Description
A ground-breaking examination of the societal impact of fear that gives us a thrilling insight on world history
About the Author
Robert Peckham is a cultural historian and founder of Open Cube, an organisation that promotes the integration of the arts, science, and technology for health. He was previously Professor of History and MB Lee Endowed Professor in the Humanities and Medicine at the University of Hong Kong. He has held fellowships at Cambridge, Oxford, LSE, and King's College London, and been a visiting scholar at NYU. A fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he has published in Foreign Affairs, New Statesman, Prospect, the Guardian, the Independent and the Times Literary Supplement. He lives in New York.
Reviews
Compelling * Economist *
An ambitious deep dive into history * Irish Independent *
[An] elegant synthesis of centuries of intellectual history ... Peckham's mapping of fear across centuries of thought offers an opportunity to reflect on a persistent political geography of anxiety * Lancet *
Clear and engaging ... readers keen to grasp a better understanding of the history of the world will be entranced by Peckham's ability to communicate complex political, religious, economic, artistic, medical, military, technological and cultural trends * BBC History Magazine *
Brilliant and breathtakingly wide-ranging ... As Peckham shows in gripping and beautifully written detail, fear isn't just the stock in trade of wicked despots; in some circumstances it can be turned to positive effect. Could it, now, be that fear is our friend? Read Peckham and judge for yourself. -- Simon Schama
Extraordinary. This exceptional and thought-provoking book sheds light on the intricate position fear occupies in the unavoidable realities of politics and our spiritual existence. -- Ai Weiwei
We all know what fear is, but who amongst us have considered its history? Peckham is fear's astute historian-translator in this big, brave, honest, and learned book. He moves us back and forth across time and place, from fourteenth-century century plague to bombs in Afghanistan, in a profoundly human history of the politics of one emotion. It's gripping as well as uncomfortable reading, that shows us the stakes when fear and freedom are twinned -- Alison Bashford, author * The Huxleys: An Intimate History of Evolution *
Robert Peckham's deeply informed and lucidly staged anatomy of fear is a remarkable achievement. Peckham shapes a fundamentally transformative account of the sociology of fear - and of fear as a constitutive element of modern sociality itself. A groundbreaking study. -- Mark Seltzer, author * The Official World *
Fascinating, compelling and erudite. I have written quite a lot about fear and the brain, but learned so much about fear itself from this book. -- Joseph LeDoux, author * The Deep History of Ourselves *
Book Information
ISBN 9781788167239
Author Robert Peckham
Format Hardback
Page Count 448
Imprint Profile Books Ltd
Publisher Profile Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 689g
Dimensions(mm) 61mm * 234mm * 38mm