Doom cover art

Doom

The Politics of Catastrophe

 Preview

Get 30 days of Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30-day free trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options
Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

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 and more 'antifragile' if we are to avoid the impending doom of irreversible decline.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Niall Ferguson (P)2021 Penguin Audio Disaster Relief Economics Elections & Political Process Politics & Government Social Sciences Theory World Thought-Provoking Middle Ages
All stars
Most relevant
This is not just s book on the covid pandemic, it's much broader and deeper in scope. And yet there are constant pointers to the pandemic experience which are, in hindsight, completely wrong. Alas this continually casts doubts and questions over the robustness and soundness of whichever point was being elaborated. This is a real shame as the premise and topics discussed in the book are fascinating.
Hopefully a future revised edition will address the many incorrect conclusions that have being drawn from superseded covid data.

In desperate need of a revised 2nd edition

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Ferguson's command of so many disciplines and periods of history make the book. The concluding chapter is also very strong. But a good chunk of the final third feels somewhat dated (given it was written in the middle of the pandemic) and he is somewhat prone to current political commentary (which is probably not why many might be drawn to a history of catastrophe). Perhaps that is unavoidable.

On balance, a well researched enlightening listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A great, wide analysis of disaster. All kinds and throughout history. Very interesting and to be honest entertaining.

As Ever agree or disagree Ferguson makes you think

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoy Ferguson's work but this felt more like a textbook than the likes of Civilisation and Empire. Will enjoy listening again though as so many ideas to take in

Bit too much like a textbook

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An overall excellent listen, however I was very disappointed by Ferguson's blind acceptance of certain narratives, in particular that surrounding the Syrian conflict. this calls into question much of what seems to be an excellent analysis of the subject matter.

Highly interesting listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews