Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe

Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe is a compelling history of catastrophes and their consequences, from the most brilliant British historian of his generation. It offers a general theory of disaster, arguing that governments must learn to become less bureaucratic to avoid irreversible decline.

Format: Hardback
Length: 496 pages
Publication date: 06 May 2021
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

SHORTLISTED FOR THE LIONEL GELBER PRIZE 2022

Magisterial ... Immensely readable

Douglas Alexander, Financial 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.

Insightful, productively provocative, and downright brilliant

New York Times

Stimulating, thought-provoking ... Readers will find much to relish

Martin Bentham, Evening Standard

Weight: 732g
Dimension: 163 x 241 x 48 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780241488447