Fear is one of the most basic and most powerful of all the human emotions. Sometimes it is hauntingly specific: flames searing patterns on the ceiling, a hydrogen bomb, a terrorist. More often, anxiety overwhelms us from some source within: there is an irrational panic about venturing outside, a dread of failure, a premonition of doom.

In this astonishing book we encounter the fears and anxieties of hundreds of British and American men, women and children. From fear of the crowd to agoraphobia, from battle experiences to fear of nuclear attack, from cancer to AIDS, this is an utterly original insight into the mindset of the twentieth century from one of most brilliant historians and thinkers of our time.

恐惧是人类所有情绪中最基本和最强大的一种。有时，它是令人困扰的具体问题：天花板上的火焰灼热的图案，氢弹，恐怖分子。更多的时候，焦虑从内心深处压倒了我们：对于外出冒险有一种非理性的恐慌，对于失败的恐惧，对于厄运的预感。

在这本令人惊讶的书中，我们遇到了数百名英国和美国男人、女人和儿童的恐惧和焦虑。从对人群的恐惧到广场恐惧症，从战斗经历到对核攻击的恐惧，从癌症到艾滋病，这是我们这个时代最杰出的历史学家和思想家之一对20世纪心态的完全原创的洞察。