SHUTDOWN How Covid Shook the World's Economy

Reading his introduction with clarity and aplomb, the British historian and Columbia University professor offers the coherent story of how the world reacted to Covid. Simon Vance narrates the balance of this intelligent work with equal grace and fidelity, but his slower pace and deliberate enunciation have a theatrical quality that is not the best fit for the writing. SHUTDOWN is a thoughtful, almost encyclopedic examination of the huge impact Covid is having on the world's economies, international politics, and the daily lives of almost everyone. Tooze's writing is notable for his ability to tell this story with a historian's perspective, a reporter's economy of language, and an obvious sensitivity to the upheaval people are suffering. His analytical skills are arresting, especially in the sections on how politics has impacted government responses to the pandemic. T.W. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2021]