Where No Fear Was: A Book About Fear

by A.C. Benson

Arthur Christopher Benson (1862-1925) was a British essayist, poet and author. He was one of six children of Edward White Benson, a late nineteenth-century Archbishop of Canterbury. The Benson family were exceptionally literate and accomplished, but their history was somewhat tragic. A son and daughter died young, and another daughter, as well as Benson himself, suffered badly from a mental condition that was probably manic-depressive psychosis. Despite his illness, Benson was a distinguished academic and a most prolific author. He was associated with Eton College, and was Master of Magdalene College of Cambridge University. His poems and volumes of essays, such as From a College Window (1906), were famous in his day, and he left one of the longest diaries ever written, some four million words.
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CONTENTS

I. THE SHADOW
II. SHAPES OF FEAR
III. THE DARKEST DOUBT
IV. VULNERABILITY
V. THE USE OF FEAR
VI. FEARS OF CHILDHOOD
VII. FEARS OF BOYHOOD
VIII. FEARS OF YOUTH
IX. FEARS OF MIDDLE AGE
X. FEARS OF AGE
XI. DR. JOHNSON
XII. TENNYSON, RUSKIN, CARLYLE
XIII. CHARLOTTE BRONTE
XIV. JOHN STERLING
XV. INSTINCTIVE FEAR
XVI. FEAR OF LIFE
XVII. SIMPLICITY
XVIII. AFFECTION
XIX. SIN
XX. SERENITY

100 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1914

About the author

Arthur Christopher Benson was an English essayist, poet, author and academic and the 28th Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge.

Benson was born on 24 April 1862 at Wellington College, Berkshire. He was one of six children of Edward White Benson (1829-1896; Archbishop of Canterbury 1882–96; the first headmaster of the college) and his wife Mary Sidgwick Benson, sister of the philosopher Henry Sidgwick.

Benson was born into a literary family; his brothers included E.F. Benson, best remembered for his Mapp and Lucia novels, and Robert Hugh Benson, a priest of the Church of England before converting to Roman Catholicism, who wrote many popular novels. Their sister, Margaret Benson, was an artist, author, and amateur Egyptologist.

Reviews

[Tobi ﾄﾋﾞ · Rating 3 out of 5]

each paragraph consists of 70 prefaces 90 side stories and the one small point the author is trying to make that usually needed no explanation at all

[Jay Rothermel · Rating 3 out of 5]

For those who enjoy ACB's fiction, and particularly his short horror stories, this will be of interest. A confirmed Christian, Benson explores not fears of old houses or lonely tarns or open country, but the often debilitating and demoralizing social anxieties some of us feel acutelybeach day. Benson extols the sense of proportion and probity as central in all turns of life. He also praises the hard-won skill of looking at fearful situations (fearful to us, innocuous to others) as opportunities to find out how much we might accomplish.

He hassome funny stories about life's little lessons in humility, and how he has learned to appreciate them.

[Jay Rothermel · Rating 3 out of 5]

For those who enjoy ACB's fiction, and particularly his short horror stories, this will be of interest. A confirmed Christian, Benson explores not fears of old houses or lonely tarns or open country, but the often debilitating and demoralizing social anxieties some of us feel acutelybeach day. Benson extols the sense of proportion and probity as central in all turns of life. He also praises the hard-won skill of looking at fearful situations (fearful to us, innocuous to others) as opportunities to find out how much we might accomplish.

He hassome funny stories about life's little lessons in humility, and how he has learned to appreciate them.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does meander a bit - part psychology, part theology, partly an account of the depressions suffered by people like Samuel Johnson and Emily Bronte. However, the author's analysis of fear and anxiety, and the way these things can paralyse us into inaction, is very acute.