Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe
- Downloads：5910
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-07-31 03:40:56
- Update Date：2025-09-23
- Status：finish
- Author：Niall Ferguson
- ISBN：0593297377
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
All disasters are in some sense man-made。
Setting the annus horribilis of 2020 in historical perspective， Niall Ferguson explains why we are getting worse， not better， at handling disasters。
Disasters are inherently hard to predict。 Pandemics， like earthquakes， wildfires， financial crises。 and wars， are not normally distributed; there is no cycle of history to help us anticipate the next catastrophe。 But when disaster strikes， we ought to be better prepared than the Romans were when Vesuvius erupted， or medieval Italians when the Black Death struck。 We have science on our side， after all。
Yet in 2020 the responses of many developed countries， including the United States， to a new virus from China were badly bungled。 Why？ Why did only a few Asian countries learn the right lessons from SARS and MERS？ While populist leaders certainly performed poorly in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic， Niall Ferguson argues that more profound pathologies were at work--pathologies already visible in our responses to earlier disasters。
In books going back nearly twenty years， including Colossus， The Great Degeneration， and The Square and the Tower， Ferguson has studied the foibles of modern America， from imperial hubris to bureaucratic sclerosis and online fragmentation。
Drawing from multiple disciplines， including economics， cliodynamics， and network science， Doom offers not just a history but a general theory of disasters， showing why our ever more bureaucratic and complex systems are getting worse at handing them。
Doom is the lesson of history that this country--indeed the West as a whole--urgently needs to learn， if we want to handle the next crisis better， and to avoid the ultimate doom of irreversible decline。
Setting the annus horribilis of 2020 in historical perspective， Niall Ferguson explains why we are getting worse， not better， at handling disasters。
Disasters are inherently hard to predict。 Pandemics， like earthquakes， wildfires， financial crises。 and wars， are not normally distributed; there is no cycle of history to help us anticipate the next catastrophe。 But when disaster strikes， we ought to be better prepared than the Romans were when Vesuvius erupted， or medieval Italians when the Black Death struck。 We have science on our side， after all。
Yet in 2020 the responses of many developed countries， including the United States， to a new virus from China were badly bungled。 Why？ Why did only a few Asian countries learn the right lessons from SARS and MERS？ While populist leaders certainly performed poorly in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic， Niall Ferguson argues that more profound pathologies were at work--pathologies already visible in our responses to earlier disasters。
In books going back nearly twenty years， including Colossus， The Great Degeneration， and The Square and the Tower， Ferguson has studied the foibles of modern America， from imperial hubris to bureaucratic sclerosis and online fragmentation。
Drawing from multiple disciplines， including economics， cliodynamics， and network science， Doom offers not just a history but a general theory of disasters， showing why our ever more bureaucratic and complex systems are getting worse at handing them。
Doom is the lesson of history that this country--indeed the West as a whole--urgently needs to learn， if we want to handle the next crisis better， and to avoid the ultimate doom of irreversible decline。
Reviews
Devon Bowman
，
This book was a 3。5 for me。 The content was interesting for sure and the conclusion redeemed a lot of the book for me。 The main complaint I have is the overwhelming amount of facts about any and everything。 It felt almost as though the scope was so wide but the book was made to be short so it just felt a bit disjointed。 I think either the scope needed to be tighter or written a bigger book to truly give each aspect what it needed。 Overall and interesting book but it just felt like it tried to do This book was a 3。5 for me。 The content was interesting for sure and the conclusion redeemed a lot of the book for me。 The main complaint I have is the overwhelming amount of facts about any and everything。 It felt almost as though the scope was so wide but the book was made to be short so it just felt a bit disjointed。 I think either the scope needed to be tighter or written a bigger book to truly give each aspect what it needed。 Overall and interesting book but it just felt like it tried to do too much。 。。。more
F。 S。
，
It starts strong with the historical accounts but it completely falls on its face when it tries to recount modern events while they are happening （i。e Covid， China-US cold war）。The last chapter is just a review of the author favorite's Sci-Fi books。 It starts strong with the historical accounts but it completely falls on its face when it tries to recount modern events while they are happening （i。e Covid， China-US cold war）。The last chapter is just a review of the author favorite's Sci-Fi books。 。。。more
Michelle
，
Dry but thorough and enlightening narrative on disasters- man made and otherwise since basically AD。 There are patterns-hint-mosquito are culpable， man is flawed and shit hits the fan but not enough to really slow us down for long。
John
，
Very thorough survey of catastrophe。。。
John W。
，
How we are getting worse at handling disasters。
A J
，
I love Niall Ferguson as a historian and this didn’t disappoint。 The content of the boom is interesting and provides some thought provoking ideas that link with some of his previous works。 I liked the diagrams as they were relevant， easy to understand and really help explain some of the content。 There has been criticism that he wrote this book in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and didn’t wait until it’s end。 But as he explains in the book， what end？ When？ That’s not his point and the book d I love Niall Ferguson as a historian and this didn’t disappoint。 The content of the boom is interesting and provides some thought provoking ideas that link with some of his previous works。 I liked the diagrams as they were relevant， easy to understand and really help explain some of the content。 There has been criticism that he wrote this book in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and didn’t wait until it’s end。 But as he explains in the book， what end？ When？ That’s not his point and the book doesn’t need it。 All disasters are to some extent political and I feel from reading this book that is true more than ever。 I will need to read again to fully take in all of the ideas， however this book was not boring and therefore that’ll be not difficult to do。 Not a showstopper， but a solid piece of work。 。。。more
John Crippen
，
"Doom: A History of Mankind Mismanaging Catastrophe" might have been a better title for this fascinating book。 Ferguson's thoughts on COVID-19 in the closing chapters are interesting， but written in the fall of 2020。 I hope he publishes a second edition one day。 Well， I hope there is a day that warrants a second edition I suppose。 Unrelated to catastrophe， I admit to still being enthralled by Ferguson。 In this book I learned that， on top of his encyclopedic knowledge of history， he is also a vor "Doom: A History of Mankind Mismanaging Catastrophe" might have been a better title for this fascinating book。 Ferguson's thoughts on COVID-19 in the closing chapters are interesting， but written in the fall of 2020。 I hope he publishes a second edition one day。 Well， I hope there is a day that warrants a second edition I suppose。 Unrelated to catastrophe， I admit to still being enthralled by Ferguson。 In this book I learned that， on top of his encyclopedic knowledge of history， he is also a voracious reader of fiction。 Sigh。 I will never catch up。 。。。more
Jack
，
An interesting recap of a litany of catastrophes since the plague of Justinian。 Ferguson does a great job of packaging the histories and economic data into a compelling narrative。 I agree with a lot of it， and disagree with some， but both of those interpretations probably come more from personal biases than from critical analysis。 A recurrent theme is that most of the catastrophes were made worse， instead of better， because of government intervention。 But he’s good at pointing out that different An interesting recap of a litany of catastrophes since the plague of Justinian。 Ferguson does a great job of packaging the histories and economic data into a compelling narrative。 I agree with a lot of it， and disagree with some， but both of those interpretations probably come more from personal biases than from critical analysis。 A recurrent theme is that most of the catastrophes were made worse， instead of better， because of government intervention。 But he’s good at pointing out that different leaders and different interventions may or may not make any difference。 Catastrophes are just hard to deal with。 The end paints a strange future that integrates current trends with pop science fiction。 Overall the book is entertaining and will probably push some of your buttons no matter what political reality you live in。 。。。more
Michael McDonnell
，
Ferguson is bold historian and writer。 You may not believe in the editorial style he adopts or the inferences that he draws， but he is provocative thinker and diligent researcher。 Reading Ferguson's books is an edifying experience。 Ferguson is bold historian and writer。 You may not believe in the editorial style he adopts or the inferences that he draws， but he is provocative thinker and diligent researcher。 Reading Ferguson's books is an edifying experience。 。。。more
Gary
，
As usual with Niall Ferguson， I disagree with most of his opinions and conclusions， but I couldn't help enjoying and learning a lot from this book。 As usual with Niall Ferguson， I disagree with most of his opinions and conclusions， but I couldn't help enjoying and learning a lot from this book。 。。。more
Elizabeth
，
As heard on The Indicator from Planet Money:https://www。npr。org/2021/07/06/101351。。。 As heard on The Indicator from Planet Money:https://www。npr。org/2021/07/06/101351。。。 。。。more
Aaron Brown
，
Excellent， in-depth survey of the history of disaster from one of the world's great historians。 Ferguson is always a fantastic writer and this book is no exception。 Sober， balanced， rational commentary is also provided on the COVID pandemic and the American response to it。 Few， if any， other writers have written such a detailed， balanced analysis and it， alone， is worth the price of the book。 Excellent， in-depth survey of the history of disaster from one of the world's great historians。 Ferguson is always a fantastic writer and this book is no exception。 Sober， balanced， rational commentary is also provided on the COVID pandemic and the American response to it。 Few， if any， other writers have written such a detailed， balanced analysis and it， alone， is worth the price of the book。 。。。more
Sarah
，
"Despite the title， Tyler thinks the book can at least get people to be more mentally prepared for disasters in the future。 That alone makes a big difference in how people handle challenges。"https://www。npr。org/2021/07/06/101351。。。 "Despite the title， Tyler thinks the book can at least get people to be more mentally prepared for disasters in the future。 That alone makes a big difference in how people handle challenges。"https://www。npr。org/2021/07/06/101351。。。 。。。more
Lynda
，
It was a bit of a slog to get through this book partly because so much is covered here in terms of a variety of disasters and I found myself toggling between reading this book on Kindle Cloud Reader and watching YouTube videos about certain disasters that were just too intriguing to pass up without seeing the visuals to accompany Niall Ferguson's amazing writing。 I learned about some disasters that I had never even heard of such as the worst aviation disaster to date， namely the 1977 one in Tene It was a bit of a slog to get through this book partly because so much is covered here in terms of a variety of disasters and I found myself toggling between reading this book on Kindle Cloud Reader and watching YouTube videos about certain disasters that were just too intriguing to pass up without seeing the visuals to accompany Niall Ferguson's amazing writing。 I learned about some disasters that I had never even heard of such as the worst aviation disaster to date， namely the 1977 one in Tenerife， Spain; and he covers （amongst many others） the 1883 Krakatoa volcanic eruption， widely considered the first disaster of the modern era。 Ferguson covers earthquakes， volcanic eruptions， asteroids， floods， famine， plagues; the role of trade， the role of colonization， the role of leaders， in shaping disasters; the role of the Internet in spreading misinformation and disinformation。 His coverage about the extinction of dinosaurs got me interested in borrowing a copy of the movie Jurassic Park to watch it again。 Of course， he covers Covid-19， and it was around August 2020 when this book went to press; of course he had to touch upon the topic of the still unfolding pandemic and of course certain facts or guesses about his predictions of where the pandemic was going is already outdated， but it still does not rob the book of its importance。 One glaring example of how 'out of date' the book is with respect to Covid-19 is the case of Taiwan。 By today， it has clearly bungled in its effort to contain the pathogen within its own borders， seeing that its small island stature kept it relatively insulated for much of 2020， yet the current administration never really had a rock-solid strategy for dealing with Covid-19， if we are to be honest here; a 'zero-Covid' approach and the lack of foresight in procuring the necessary vaccines to protect the population is most definitely not a strategy。 I rolled my eyes as I read through Ferguson's praise of Taiwan in successfully tackling the pandemic。Overall though Doom is such a fascinating book to read partly because， as Ferguson correctly points out， we humans are fascinated by doom; it's in our nature and we can't help it。 He also goes into great length to discuss the current China-US relationship， of which the tense dynamics， and the hard-to-decipher 'frenemy' relationship is fraught with so much capacity to continue to change the world， for better or for worse， whether we like it or not， save for those who have not been paying any attention and thereby burying their head in the sand。 Ferguson cites many great works of science fiction， one of them being Liu Cixin's 'Three Body Problem'; and it is Ferguson's analysis about this work of science fiction that got me interested to finally take the time to read this other important book。 'Doom' is certainly a book that makes us think of our own mortality。 In that regard， it is somehow comforting （or cathartic） because we are after all， just here for a short amount of time， and to see our place in this world， our life， in the greater context of the past and the future， we can take the time to ponder （for pondering's sake， I guess） and， for those of us who have the mettle， brains， and gumption to change the world （think Elon Musk or Greta Thunberg， who Ferguson also talks about） and yes， we need more Cassandras in government， academia， epidemiology， as Ferguson points out。 （But of course， Cassandras' warnings are almost always ignored; so isn't this wishful thinking？）"History tells us to expect the great punctuation marks of disaster in no predictable order。 The four horsemen of The Book of Revelation-Conquest， War， Famine and the pale rider Death-gallop out at seemingly random intervals to remind us that no amount of technological innovation can make mankind invulnerable"（p。 395 Kindle version）。 Ferguson put it well。 But it does have a 'we're all doomed' ring to it。 But we would be more doomed if we did not learn from our mistakes， from history， from one another， from our post mortems， to think even harder about the future and its various scenarios， and to examine how we could do better to mitigate certain disasters， to give us the extra peace of mind that does not hurt anybody。 。。。more
Chris Wilby
，
An interesting narrative of most if not all of doom events in the 20th century。
Colin Thomas
，
Generally really appreciated this book。 Particularly that Ferguson exists outside the confines of the rigid American two party political camps and thus includes servers frank and fascinating tidbits about various US President’s work amid several disasters that defy standard partisan logic。 Won me over most every time。 Also yeah I mean the central thesis about how politics both over anticipates doom and under manages actual crisis is obviously a thing。
Bradley Endsor
，
https://www。theconversationallemon。co。。。 https://www。theconversationallemon。co。。。 。。。more
Jeff Hexter
，
I *loved* the discussion at the end of the connection between science fiction and apocalypse。
Roy Murry
，
DOOMThe Politics of CatastropheNIALL FERGUSON Review by Author Roy MurryThis profound history of every disaster you know or think you know - from wars， volcanoes， famines to plagues。 Mr。 Ferguson writes the story's factors one would not think existed。 The depth of each disaster's background is disturbing and not in any history books printed about those events I have read。 However， I am 73 years old and have read much history。In Niall Ferguson's written words， "the central point of this book - th DOOMThe Politics of CatastropheNIALL FERGUSON Review by Author Roy MurryThis profound history of every disaster you know or think you know - from wars， volcanoes， famines to plagues。 Mr。 Ferguson writes the story's factors one would not think existed。 The depth of each disaster's background is disturbing and not in any history books printed about those events I have read。 However， I am 73 years old and have read much history。In Niall Ferguson's written words， "the central point of this book - that all disasters are at some level man-made political disasters， even if they originate with new pathogens。" His explanations of those horrendous events in history bring the reader to the present day。 While living in lockdown， he proposes why the Asian Flu 1957-1958 is similar to the COVID 2020 and shows the political and network differences at the beginning of the events。 In some of his detail， the reader will agree with， some not。However， his arguments are worth reading if you have an Inquisitive Mind - One of my top 10 reads of my life。 。。。more
Mel
，
This is a dense and slow read written in a heavily academic style。 It reads as a history of catastrophes meant to offer historical perspective to the present pandemic。 It has its own particular slant on events and the politics that shape them。 This perspective seems to see the COVID crisis as not significant compared to past events。 I do not agree with some positions of the book but leave it to individual readers to judge for themselves。 It can be challenging but I suggest worth the slog to cons This is a dense and slow read written in a heavily academic style。 It reads as a history of catastrophes meant to offer historical perspective to the present pandemic。 It has its own particular slant on events and the politics that shape them。 This perspective seems to see the COVID crisis as not significant compared to past events。 I do not agree with some positions of the book but leave it to individual readers to judge for themselves。 It can be challenging but I suggest worth the slog to consider the views presented and the perspective， political and historical， offered。 。。。more
Mike Kanner
，
First， my biases - I am a great fan of Ferguson。 He is one of the few historians whose books I will order or put on my reading list whenever I find out he has a new book out。 This is another of the 'big' histories that Ferguson does so well。 Written during the COVID panic， he places it in the context of other man-made and natural disasters。 Unlike much of what has been written already about the crisis， he does not take political sides。 He DOES put it in perspective with the past and what might h First， my biases - I am a great fan of Ferguson。 He is one of the few historians whose books I will order or put on my reading list whenever I find out he has a new book out。 This is another of the 'big' histories that Ferguson does so well。 Written during the COVID panic， he places it in the context of other man-made and natural disasters。 Unlike much of what has been written already about the crisis， he does not take political sides。 He DOES put it in perspective with the past and what might have been （the section on dystopian novels is a great reading list）。 I recommend for anyone who needs to see the bigger picture and quit bemoaning current times。 。。。more
Pandit
，
Yes， as other reviewers are saying， this is a hastily thrown together mashup loosely tied around the theme of mankind's disasters - manmade and natural。The first few chapters read like a freshman's attempt at a 'paper' that is really just a mashed up wikipedia-fest。As he gets on to the various forms of plague it gets more interesting。 NF is clearly quite a formidable historian， and he does a good job of being informative （I did not know that half of Napoleon's Grand Army that went into Russia di Yes， as other reviewers are saying， this is a hastily thrown together mashup loosely tied around the theme of mankind's disasters - manmade and natural。The first few chapters read like a freshman's attempt at a 'paper' that is really just a mashed up wikipedia-fest。As he gets on to the various forms of plague it gets more interesting。 NF is clearly quite a formidable historian， and he does a good job of being informative （I did not know that half of Napoleon's Grand Army that went into Russia died of typhus rather than cold）， and tying things together。 The last few chapters however descend into a rambling， uninformative circus of speculation and prophesy。 Really， I would not bother with this book if I were you （presuming you have not read it already）， although I get the feeling that NF's more historical books might be worth tackling。 。。。more
Neil Fox
，
‘I hope at least we’ve learnt something from this’ is an expression that most of us have uttered at one point or another during the Covid-19 pandemic， but when it comes to catastrophes and disasters do we， as a human race， ever really learn from our mistakes ？ This is the fundamental question posed by historian Niall Ferguson in his new book ‘Doom - the politics of catastrophe’ as he depressingly illustrates how fundamentally unprepared for disaster we are despite centuries of experience with pl ‘I hope at least we’ve learnt something from this’ is an expression that most of us have uttered at one point or another during the Covid-19 pandemic， but when it comes to catastrophes and disasters do we， as a human race， ever really learn from our mistakes ？ This is the fundamental question posed by historian Niall Ferguson in his new book ‘Doom - the politics of catastrophe’ as he depressingly illustrates how fundamentally unprepared for disaster we are despite centuries of experience with plague， wars and natural phenomena 。Whilst natural disasters associated with volcanoes， earthquakes， fire and floods are difficult to predict， we nevertheless continue to construct human settlements in risk zones; for man-made disasters from famine to nuclear accidents on the other hand Ferguson explores how these are created by failure of markets， dictatorship， political systems like communism， lack of accountability and Imperialism。 In a wide-scoping work he extends his analysis to wars and violent revolutions as well as ambitiously to a litany of transport disasters such as the Hindenburg， the Titanic， the Challenger space shuttle and the 1977 Tenerife plane crash， where he develops a theory of latent and active errors as a repeating element leading up to these events。The centerpiece however deals with plagues， pandemics and pestilence - conditions that have been with humanity since the dawn of time， and how we actually learn very little from them （take HIV/AIDS） as a case in point， where people continue to engage in risky behavior， knowing the consequences） and the social and political upheaval they initiate。Ferguson’s work is so wide in scope that occasionally it lacks focus and it is difficult to ascertain what his hypothesis is exactly。 He draws heavily on and regurgitates material from previous works on networks， Empire and the economics of warfare， and has a track record of rushing out books to cash in on the topic du jour as he did with ‘The ascent of money’ just after the 2008 financial crash。 One can’t help imagining Professor Ferguson’s army of minions beavering away researching topics like nuclear fission to embellish the reputation of their rock-star economic historian boss as an expert in just about everything。 Being quite far to the right of center， Ferguson downplays the risk of unwillingness to learn from the warning signs of the greatest danger facing mankind， that of climate change， although he is no climate-denier。 The other 3 horsemen of our potential apocalypse - a catastrophic failure of the technology on which we all so depend， nuclear annihilation and plagues-to-come are all amply covered。 His musing on the dangers of AI echoes that of Yoah Noval Harari。 His warning that Covid-19 is far away from being the ‘big one’ and could in fact be a day at the beach compared to what we could face echoes what other Cassandra’s have been portending for yearsIn his haste to pen an event which is still unfolding Ferguson faces the challenge of writing a history of an event that is still in motion， which he acknowledges。 The book was completed before the vaccines were announced or variants and mutations occurred。 Although considerable space is devoted to Covid-19 here （in a very US and British-centric analysis）， the entertainment value of Ferguson’s book is precisely its rambling and skipping over millennia of disasters and how， as a human race， we will always be behind in the learning of our lessons。 。。。more
Sanjay Banerjee
，
Drawing from multiple disciplines including economics and network science， the author offers a history as well as a general theory of disasters。 He shows why everyone more bureaucratic and complex systems are getting worse at handling them。
Rob Thompson
，
While the rest of us spent lockdown learning to bake sourdough， Niall Ferguson applied his intellect to the task of placing the pandemic in historical context。 In Doom， the Scottish-born Harvard historian sets out to understand why humanity， time and again through the ages， has failed to prepare for catastrophe。 There’s no doubt that Ferguson's inquiry is dazzlingly broad， covering a host of natural and man-made disasters。 He mixes Vesuvius， wars， famine， Chernobyl with a variety of disciplines。 While the rest of us spent lockdown learning to bake sourdough， Niall Ferguson applied his intellect to the task of placing the pandemic in historical context。 In Doom， the Scottish-born Harvard historian sets out to understand why humanity， time and again through the ages， has failed to prepare for catastrophe。 There’s no doubt that Ferguson's inquiry is dazzlingly broad， covering a host of natural and man-made disasters。 He mixes Vesuvius， wars， famine， Chernobyl with a variety of disciplines。 These range from network science to epidemiology。 However， I found the whole thing a massively confusing， rambling mishmash。 An unconvincing blend of statements of the readily apparent and laborious theorising。 Was the pandemic a black swan （an unexpected event that catches humanity unawares）， a grey rhino （an obviously dangerous event that people nonetheless do nothing about）， or a dragon king （an event that flattens civilisation）？ Ferguson says it was a grey rhino。 Ok， so？ And when not playing with grand concepts， he indulges in tiresome liberal-baiting。 For example， Black Lives Matter was a "contagion"。Another problem with this book is that it is already outdated。 Concluding his narrative last autumn， Ferguson predicts the Covid-19 pandemic will be remembered not in the same league as the 1918 Spanish influenza， but rather the （now largely forgotten） Asian flu of 1957。 A lot， however， has happened since: the second wave， the emergence of scary new variants， and the roll-out of vaccines。I’ll save you the job of wading through this。 Insofar as the book has an overall thesis， it is that disasters are usually less the product of poor leadership than of vulnerabilities of the system。 。。。more
Elisabeth Young
，
I can't waste my time finishing this。 The author has an insidious way of deferring obvious answers in favor of scapegoating infinite complexity。 I can acknowledge complexity while also acknowledging that what Ferguson is serving up here is a neoliberal rendering of history。 He takes no time at all to make a dim witted and lazy assessment that covid wasn't the only pandemic， but also the contagion of "misinformation"。 Once again， illness as a metaphor fails miserably， but some guy still thinks he I can't waste my time finishing this。 The author has an insidious way of deferring obvious answers in favor of scapegoating infinite complexity。 I can acknowledge complexity while also acknowledging that what Ferguson is serving up here is a neoliberal rendering of history。 He takes no time at all to make a dim witted and lazy assessment that covid wasn't the only pandemic， but also the contagion of "misinformation"。 Once again， illness as a metaphor fails miserably， but some guy still thinks he's made a salient point。 He wonders why so many people might be upset right now and then offers that a tightening of communication and social media （aka censorship） would help。 。。。more
Andrew Petro
，
A fine and fascinating book。 Perfect reading on the heels of a pandemic。 Ferguson is eloquent and engaging。 He seems at times nearly omniscient。The book （especially the end） was somewhat flawed by a lack of focus。 It meanders to a rather uncertain conclusion with a consideration of the sometimes prescient qualities of dystopian fiction。 I like such stories as much as the next person， but I found Ferguson's catalog of them a disappointing denouement to an often brilliant treatment of a timely the A fine and fascinating book。 Perfect reading on the heels of a pandemic。 Ferguson is eloquent and engaging。 He seems at times nearly omniscient。The book （especially the end） was somewhat flawed by a lack of focus。 It meanders to a rather uncertain conclusion with a consideration of the sometimes prescient qualities of dystopian fiction。 I like such stories as much as the next person， but I found Ferguson's catalog of them a disappointing denouement to an often brilliant treatment of a timely theme。 。。。more
Aaron VanAlstine
，
Did not finish。 Book feels rushed; I suspect the publisher wanted to take advantage of the ongoing pandemic。 The organization is chaotic with no real thesis， just a barrage of facts and figures about anything and everything。 The author is coasting on his reputation。
Darryl Burling
，
Good in many ways， but just missing something…I am a fan of Ferguson’s work generally speaking and there are some great insights in this book。 I particularly benefitted from being disabused of the notion that history plays out in cycles （a notion I came to hold recently and am happy to abandon）， and there is a lot of insight here with regards to the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020-2021， but the overall message is simply that politics makes catastrophe worse。 Who doesn’t disagree with this？ So， while I Good in many ways， but just missing something…I am a fan of Ferguson’s work generally speaking and there are some great insights in this book。 I particularly benefitted from being disabused of the notion that history plays out in cycles （a notion I came to hold recently and am happy to abandon）， and there is a lot of insight here with regards to the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020-2021， but the overall message is simply that politics makes catastrophe worse。 Who doesn’t disagree with this？ So， while I enjoyed Ferguson’s writing here， I couldn’t help but think it could have been said in fewer words， and with a little more pointedness。 If you enjoy Ferguson， you’ll enjoy this。 But this isn’t the book to start on if you want an introduction to his work。 At least not in my opinion。 。。。more
Eric
，