In his new book, the famous historian Niall Ferguson gives an overview of a variety of disasters that have occurred in human history: geological, geopolitical, biological, technological. It examines the causes and consequences of specific disasters, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and the broader ways in which people and societies respond to and try to predict disasters. Drawing on several scientific disciplines, including economics, cliodynamics and network science , Ferguson writes not only history, but also a general theory of disasters, and shows why our increasingly bureaucratic and complex systems of government are increasingly unable to cope with them.