Fear Less

One of several books I chose for my independent study of security leadership...

Gavin De Becker does a fine job drawing out the differences between risk, threat, hazard, anxiety, worry, and true fear vs unwarranted fear. Where Bruce Schneier (in his also excellent Beyond Fear) credits government with whipping up unwarranted fear, De Becker is more inclined to credit the news media. Published in 2002, when 9/11 and the anthrax letters still burned in everyone's imagination, it holds up very nicely. I’m a little surprised and disappointed that De Becker recycles large chunks of his 1997 book, The Gift of Fear, but in the context of developing an effective response to the fear of terrorism I recommend this quick and satisfying read.