Gavin de Becker is the author of The Gift of Fear. This is a self-help book which deals with understanding how to be safe in situations where there is a potential for violence. The teachings which are conveyed in this book can be applied to a wide range of environments. The primary problem with violence is that when it happens it is common for victims to be caught by surprise by the violent acts. Many times they believe that the person who was responsible for the act of violence was not capable of this violence. This is most common in cases of domestic abuse, stalking, or violent acts against a political figure.

In almost every case of violence there are warning signals which were present before the violence took place. These warning signals were not usually noticed before the violence took place, but when a victim recalls the past, the signs are quite easy to recognize. Many of these warning signs did not make logical sense when they happened, but the victim could sense them through intuition. The problem is that most people are not in tune with their intuition or simply ignore this intuition. The key to avoiding violent situations is to learn how to trust intuition so that if a warning signal is present it will be recognized. Then it is important to take the proper steps in order to stop violence from taking place.

This is a summary and analysis of the book and NOT the original book