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Doom The Politics of Catastrophe
Niall Ferguson

New edition

Paperback (07 Jul 2022)


Publishers Synopsis

Magisterial ... Immensely readable Douglas Alexander, Financial Times

Insightful, productively provocative and downright brilliant New York Times

A compelling history of catastrophes and their consequences, from the most brilliant British historian of his generation (The Times)

Disasters are inherently hard to predict. But when catastrophe 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 the responses of many developed countries to a new pathogen from China were badly bungled. Why?

While populist rulers certainly performed poorly in the face of the pandemic, Niall Ferguson argues that more profound pathologies were at work - pathologies already visible in our responses to earlier disasters.

Drawing from multiple disciplines, including economics and network science, Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe offers not just a history but a general theory of disaster. As Ferguson shows, governments must learn to become less bureaucratic if we are to avoid the impending doom of irreversible decline.

Stimulating, thought-provoking ... Readers will find much to relish Martin Bentham, Evening Standard


Book information

ISBN: 9780141995557
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Imprint: Penguin Books
Pub date: 07 Jul 2022
Edition: New edition
DEWEY: 303.485
DEWEY edition: 23
Language: English
Number of pages: 491
Weight: 350g
Height: 130mm
Width: 197mm
Spine width: 28mm