Mongolia over the last decade has seen a substantial and ongoing gold rush. The widespread mining of gold looks at first glance to be a blessing for a desperately poor and largely pastoralist country where people's lives were disrupted by the end of the USSR and tens of millions of livestock were killed in devastating droughts in the early 2000s. Volatility and uncertainty as well as political and economic turmoil led many people to join the hopeful search for gold. This activity, born out of uncertain times, poses an intense moral problem; in the "land of dust," disturbing the ground and extracting the precious metal is widely believed to have calamitous consequences. With gold retaining strong ties to the landscape and its many spirit beings, the fortune of the precious metal is inseparable from the fears that surround mining. Tracing the continuities and discontinuities between human and nonhuman worlds, Mette M. High follows the paths of gold as it is excavated and converted into "polluted money," entering local shops and Buddhist monasteries, joining the illegal gold trade, and returning as "renewed" money for the "big bosses" of the gold mines. High has done several years of fieldwork in Mongolia, spending time with the "ninjas," as the miners are known locally, as well as the people who disapprove of their illegal activities and warn of the retribution that the land and its inhabitants may suffer as a result. This book is about radical change, or as many Mongolians put it, when life becomes "strange" and "chaotic." High has gained a deep understanding of the processes by which Mongolians square a morally questionable activity with the lure of profit. How do they involve themselves with tainted sources of money, and can it ever be cleansed and made usable? Addressing how our lives and those of others are intimately intertwined, Fear and Fortune offers an expansive and capacious approach to understanding the high stakes involved in human economic life.

A comprehensive and novel interpretation of Spinoza's political writings that reveals the significance of the affects for political life.

Volume 5 of a 10 volume series. Contents: V. 1 The invaders plan--v. 2 Black genesis--v. 3 The enemy within-v. 4 An alien affair--v. 5 Fortune of fear--v. 6 Death quest--v. 7 Voyage of vengeance--v. 8 Disaster--v. 9 Villainy victorious--v. 10 The doomed planet.

The Countess Krak has arrived on Earth, and the planet - not to mention Atlantic City - will never be the same again.

The Voltarian invaders are getting down and dirty . . . in the deadliest of games. The price: Planet Earth. Voltarian Royal Officer Jettero Heller has heart, nerve and a quick mind on his side. His archenemy Soltan Gris has cunning, ruthlessness and a devious plan on his. But what neither of them has is money—and without that they may as well pack up and go back to Voltar. Because as every earthling knows—no pay, no play. Heller’s solution is a weekend in Atlantic City, where he puts a new spin on gambling. He’s got a foolproof system, guaranteeing that he’ll win every bet he makes. Into this world of dirty money, dirty tricks and dirty games, the wildest of wild cards is about to change everything. Countess Krak is back—and this voluptuous Voltarian, condemned murderess and love of Heller’s life could prove to be the key player in coming to grips with a FORTUNE OF FEAR. “The adventure, colored by broad strokes of satire, is written with a vigor.” —Publishers Weekly

Ever since the phrase "fight or flight" was coined in the 1920s, the common understanding has been that the mind respond to danger in one of two ways - either fleeing in blind panic, or fighting through it. But as scientists unlock the secrets of the human brain, a more complex understanding of the fear response has emerged. It turns out that the ancient brain circuitry wired to process fear is also intricately tied to our ability to master new skills, and that the icy sensation of terror can actually enhance both our physical and our mental performance. Veteran science journalist Jeff Wise, who writes the "I'll Try Anything" column for Popular Mechanics, journeys into the heart of the primal force to find its hidden roots: Where does panic come from? How is it that some people can perform masterfully under pressure? How can we live a more courageous life? Reporting from the front lines of science, Wise takes us into labs where scientists are learning how we make decisions when confronted with physical peril, how time is perceived when the mind is on high alert, and how willpower succeeds or fails in controlling fear. Along the way, he illuminates the science with riveting stories of true-life danger and survival. We watch a woman defend herself from a mountain lion attack in a remote canyon; we witness couple desperately fighting to beat back an encircling wildfire; we see a pilot struggle to maintain control of his plane as its wing begins to detach. Full of amazing characters and cutting-edge science, Extreme Fear is an original and absorbing look at how we can raise the limits of human potential.

A NYRB Classics Original Winner of the Scott Moncrieff Prize for Translation A young soldier learns the true meaning of fear amidst the carnage of World War I in this literary masterpiece and “one of the most effective indictments of war ever written” (Wall Street Journal) 1915: Jean Dartemont heads off to the Great War, an eager conscript. The only thing he fears is missing the action. Soon, however, the vaunted “war to end all wars” seems like a war that will never end—whether mired in the trenches or going over the top, Jean finds himself caught in the midst of an unimaginable, unceasing slaughter. After he is wounded, he returns from the front to discover a world where no one knows or wants to know any of this. Both the public and the authorities go on talking about heroes—and sending more men to their graves. But Jean refuses to keep silent. He will speak the forbidden word. He will tell them about fear. John Berger has called Fear “a book of the utmost urgency and relevance.” A literary masterpiece, it is also an essential and unforgettable reckoning with the terrible war that gave birth to a century of war.