Philip Zelikow — Lessons from the Covid War

Watch author Philip Zelikow's book talk and reading at Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington, D.C.

Our national leaders have drifted into treating the pandemic as though it were an unavoidable natural catastrophe, repeating a depressing cycle of panic followed by neglect. So a remarkable group of practitioners and scholars from many backgrounds came together determined to discover and learn lessons from this latest world war. Lessons from the Covid War is plain-spoken and clear sighted. It cuts through the enormous jumble of information to make some sense of it all and answer: What just happened to us, and why? And crucially, how, next time, could we do better? Because there will be a next time. The Covid war showed Americans that their wondrous scientific knowledge had run far ahead of their organized ability to apply it in practice. Improvising to fight this war, many Americans displayed ingenuity and dedication. But they struggled with systems that made success difficult and failure easy. This book shows how Americans can come together, learn hard truths, build on what worked, and prepare for global emergencies to come.

Purchase Book Here

Philip Zelikow is the former executive director of the 9/11 Commission and the Carter-Ford Commission on Federal Election Reform. He is the White Burkett Miller Professor of History at the University of Virginia.

Dr. Charity Dean is the CEO, Founder, and Chairman of The Public Health Company (PHC), a venture-backed Silicon Valley technology startup. In August 2020 Dr. Dean founded PHC, envisioning a commercial-grade global biosecurity platform to empower enterprises to manage biorisk at scale. Dr. Dean’s obsession with building a new solution was born out of 24 years in public health and the recognition that Silicon Valley innovations in AI & ML could birth this entirely new capability. Prior, Dr. Dean served as the Assistant Director for the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) where she was part of the executive team under Governor Newsom running the COVID-19 pandemic response. She co-founded and co-chaired California’s COVID-19 Testing Task Force.

John M. Barry is an award-winning author of six books, two of which have involved him in policy making. The National Academies of Science named his 2004 book The Great Influenza the year's best book on science or medicine and it was a #1 New York Times best-seller, while the Society of American Historians named his earlier book Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America the year’s best book of American history and in 2005 the New York Public Library named Rising Tide one of the 50 best books—whether poetry, fiction, or non-fiction-- in the preceding 50 years.

Be Sure To Click SUBSCRIBE

@politicsprose

Visit us online at

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on instagram

Like us on Facebook

Follow Us On TikTok

Subscribe to our e-mail newsletter:

Become a store member and save

Audio Archive

Founded by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade in 1984, Politics and Prose Bookstore is Washington, D.C.'s premier independent bookstore and cultural hub, a gathering place for people interested in reading and discussing books. Politics and Prose offers superior service, unusual book choices, and a haven for book lovers in the store and online.