Publisher Description

Fortunately, we are still a nation of sceptics. Fortunately, there are those among us who study pandemics and are willing to look unflinchingly at worst-case scenarios. Michael Lewis's taut and brilliant nonfiction thriller pits a band of medical visionaries against the wall of ignorance that was the official response of the Trump administration to the outbreak of COVID-19. The characters you will meet in these pages are as fascinating as they are unexpected. A thirteen-year-old girl's science project on transmission of an airborne pathogen develops into a very grown-up model of disease control. A local public-health officer uses her worm's-eye view to see what the CDC misses, and reveals great truths about American society. A secret team of dissenting doctors, nicknamed the Wolverines, has everything necessary to fight the pandemic: brilliant backgrounds, world-class labs, prior experience with the pandemic scares of bird flu and swine flu…everything, that is, except official permission to implement their work. Michael Lewis is not shy about calling these people heroes for their refusal to follow directives that they know to be based on misinformation and bad science. Even the internet, as crucial as it is to their exchange of ideas, poses a risk to them. They never know for sure who else might be listening in.

Back Cover

Praise for Michael Lewis"I would read an 800-page history of the stapler if he wrote it."-- John Williams, New York Times Book Review

Author Biography

Michael Lewis is the best-selling author of Liar's Poker, Moneyball, The Blind Side, The Big Short, The Undoing Project, and The Fifth Risk. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his family.

Review

"Lewis brings a welcome gimlet eye to the Trump era… the lessons of the "The Premonition" apply to more than just the C.D.C. — they tell us why government bureaucracies fail." -- Nick Confessore - The New York Times Book Review

Long Description

New York Times Bestseller An American Scientist Science Book of 2021 A Bloomberg Best Book of 2021 A Fortune Best Books of 2021 A Guardian Best Book of 2021 A Mother Jones Best Book of 2021 A Next Big Idea Club Best Nonfiction of 2021 One of Smithsonian's 10 Best Science Books of 2021 For those who could read between the lines, the censored news out of China was terrifying. But the president insisted there was nothing to worry about.

Review Quote

"This is a book about some brave, curious people who tried hard to swim against the tide. As always in a Lewis book they are brought vividly alive. The descriptions are punchy, the dialogue snappy. Lewis is a master of his form. He's an expert, in fact."

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