A groundbreaking new perspective on catastrophes throughout human history, with vital lessons for our future'This book upended my understanding of the ancient world' Zoe Schlanger, author of The Light Eaters'Lizzie Wade is an exceptional journalist and a master storyteller' Ed Yong, author of An Immense WorldThe history of humanity is one of devastating, once-in-a-thousand-year events: rising seas that make land uninhabitable, decades-long droughts, civilisational collapse, epidemics like the Black Death and the Spanish Flu that reduce a city's population by fifty percent.
The incendiary untold story of Ireland's response to the most significant public health emergency of the past century, woven from a wealth of original research and dozens of interviews with ministers, politicians, public health experts, essential workers, and ordinary people on whom the crisis exacted a personal toll.
Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize'An insightful and important book, that often reads like a good thriller, and that exposes the danger of mixing powerful technology with irresponsible politics' - Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens'As moving as it is painstakingly researched.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 BOOKER PRIZE'Dazzling' GUARDIAN'Blistering' THE TIMES'A delight' DIANA EVANS'Fiction written at the highest level' ANN PATCHETT'Hilarious, revelatory' MARLON JAMESAn electrifying, hilarious and deeply moving tragicomic debut novel following a Jamaican family grappling with a new life in the US.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 BOOKER PRIZE'Dazzling' GUARDIAN'Blistering' THE TIMES'A delight' DIANA EVANS'Fiction written at the highest level' ANN PATCHETT'Hilarious, revelatory' MARLON JAMESAn electrifying, hilarious and deeply moving tragicomic debut novel following a Jamaican family grappling with a new life in the US.
