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Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe Hardcover – May 6, 2021
'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
- Print length496 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherAllen Lane
- Publication dateMay 6, 2021
- Dimensions6.38 x 1.69 x 9.45 inches
- ISBN-100241488443
- ISBN-13978-0241488447
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Product details
- Publisher : Allen Lane (May 6, 2021)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 496 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0241488443
- ISBN-13 : 978-0241488447
- Item Weight : 1.58 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.38 x 1.69 x 9.45 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,444,841 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,293 in Political Economy
- #2,381 in Economic Conditions (Books)
- #5,911 in History & Theory of Politics
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Niall Ferguson is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, former Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University and current senior fellow at the Center for European Studies at Harvard University, a visiting professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing, and founder and managing director of advisory firm Greenmantle LLC. The author of 15 books, Ferguson is writing a life of Henry Kissinger, the first volume of which—Kissinger, 1923-1968: The Idealist—was published in 2015 to critical acclaim. The World's Banker: The History of the House of Rothschild won the Wadsworth Prize for Business History. Other titles include Civilization: The West and the Rest, The Great Degeneration: How Institutions Decay and Economies Die and High Financier: The Lives and Time of Siegmund Warburg. Ferguson's six-part PBS television series, "The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World," based on his best-seller, won an International Emmy for best documentary in 2009. Civilization was also made into a documentary series. Ferguson is a recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Service as well as other honors. His most recent book is The Square and the Tower: Networks on Power from the Freemasons to Facebook (2018).
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book well-written, with wisdom that makes it worth reading. They also appreciate the real gems of information and recommend it for planner friends.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book's content informative, with gems of information. They also appreciate the author's trademark ability to relate good anecdotes and draw apparently disparate connections. Readers also appreciate that the book references works of fiction to further the discussion. They describe the author as a great historian, with a stunning display of intellectual prowess over many fields.
"...Read Ferguson for an informative historical perspective. He has done it before and Doom is an admirable addition to his authoritative treatments." Read more
"...I found much to enjoy in Doom, with Ferguson's trademark ability to relate a good anecdote and draw apparently disparate events together for clear..." Read more
"Nails Ferguson's Doom is a well written and well research history of both man-made and natural disasters...." Read more
"Typically readable and in depth work I've come to appreciate by Ferguson...." Read more
Customers find the book worth reading, interesting, and thought-provoking. They also say it's well-informed and provocative.
"Niall Ferguson knows how to tell a story, and has the wisdom to make it worth reading...." Read more
"...However, his arguments are worth reading if you have an Inquisitive Mind - One of my top 10 reads of my life." Read more
"...Ferguson's scholarly mining of the literature is sound, but only for work that has stood the test of time...." Read more
"While this is a very timely and topical book it suffers from the simple problem that Ferguson is writing about one of his major themes - COVID-19..." Read more
Customers find the writing style of the book well written and well researched.
"Nails Ferguson's Doom is a well written and well research history of both man-made and natural disasters...." Read more
"Typically readable and in depth work I've come to appreciate by Ferguson...." Read more
"Written at highest levels and requires command of the English language. Informative and comprehensive. Very worthwhile." Read more
"Amazingly well written and full of information...." Read more
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Top reviews from the United States
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I found much to enjoy in Doom, with Ferguson's trademark ability to relate a good anecdote and draw apparently disparate events together for clear analyses. Where I thought the book fell short lies in the political angle: Ferguson is much too forgiving of Donald Trump. An historian of Ferguson's stature should recognize Trump and Trumpism for the dangers they posed and still pose.
The Politics of Catastrophe
NIALL FERGUSON
Review by Author Roy Murry
This 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.
Must read
It is particularly unfortunate, not to say tragic, that his comparison of the impact of COVID-19 being of a similar magnitude as the Asian Flu of 1957-58 seems far less relevant given the huge surge in infections and deaths in India and SE Asia that are happening as I write this review in May 2021.
Ferguson's examination and exploration of the impact of networks on catastrophes in general is enlightening and thought-provoking, and he makes a particularly strong case that the instinctive response of the Chinese authorities to cover up the early infections in December 2020 allowed the pandemic to gain access to the rest of the world at a moment when it might have been contained.
If you enjoy reading history that is provocatively written with well-informed arguments you will find a lot to enjoy in this latest book by one of the leading thinkers of our times.
Top reviews from other countries
No way out. If profets couldn’t help, how could I?
Good bye




