FEAR: AN ALTERNATIVE HISTORY OF THE WORLD

The COVID-19 pandemic saw our society driven by fear in a way many of us had not experienced before. With the lingering threat of an initially unknown virus keeping us at home and isolated from others, fear was in many ways the main driving force during this time.

However, this isn’t the first time this has happened. In his alternative history of the world, Robert Peckham looks at the role fear has played through time.

Having worked as a professor at the University of Hong Kong as the pandemic unfolded, Peckham has an interesting perspective on how government-enforced lockdowns interfered with pro-democracy protests there. Contemplating the relationship between fear and freedom, Peckham examines how fear has often been used as a means of control, but also how it can be harnessed to create change.

This book examines the various kinds of fear associated with different historical phenomena, drawing on major world events including the Black Death, the French Revolution, Cold War paranoia, the AIDS pandemic, modern market crashes and much more.

The book argues that having an awareness of how fear has been used to serve power in the past is essential to preventing this from happening again in the future. Peckham makes observations about how fear plays such a big role in our society today, being at the centre of debates about race, gender, sexuality, class and culture, and how we must overcome this fear to move forward. It is a unique take on both our history and today’s world. Profile Books, £25; ISBN: 978-178816-723-9