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Disease outbreaks have been a hot-button topic for decades, and in Merritt's newest book, he explores how the past will shape how people view the next pandemic. Merritt begins by explaining how major pandemics throughout history, dating back to Ancient Greece, have affected society. They have influenced how public health changes, usually for the better, though not always. They also affect the economy. Governments play a strong part in this. Merritt stresses the importance of leadership during a pandemic. He uses former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and the Spanish Flu as an example. Wilson's leadership during the crisis wasn't the best.
Overall, Merritt's main point seems to be that history tends to repeat itself and that it is important to learn from past mistakes. In this history-repeating-itself account, Merritt explains that in both the Spanish Flu and the COVID-19 pandemic, people were against wearing masks. And, like with the Spanish Flu, leadership was a little rocky about the whole situation, too. Merritt examines in depth how the U.S. government's response to COVID-19 made Americans afraid.
The author's book is short, less than 200 pages, but it's chock-full of insightful information. Merritt spends a lot of time analyzing COVID-19 and how people need to be better prepared for the next big one. He takes an approach that looks at how the crisis was handled, both the good and the bad, using revealing facts. The writing style and basic layout of the book are well done and make it easy to comprehend as a whole. Merritt's tone is always thought-provoking. The subject matter is heavy, but Merritt's compassion for the subject makes the reader want to read on to the end.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review