PositiveThe Times Literary Supplement (UK)Nicholas Christakis has given his rapidly written yet magisterial book about the pandemic the title Apollo’s Arrow ... In some respects, Apollo’s Arrow is an instant history of an event that is by no means over. This is a hard thing to pull off, but Christakis does it with aplomb ... Apollo’s Arrow has three great strengths. Firstly, Christakis clearly explains the nature of the virus and the disease it causes, and shows that social network structures and public policy largely explain the great variance in the pandemic’s impact from country to country ... Secondly, Christakis does an exceptional job of comparing Covid-19 to other major pandemics in history ... The third strength is what it has to say about the future. On the social and psychological consequences of the pandemic, including the silver linings of markedly increased voluntarism and \'catastrophe compassion\', Christakis fizzes with insights.
Samantha Power
PositiveThe Times... deeply researched and trenchantly argued ... One of the great strengths of this book is that it knows its own limitations ... a devastating indictment not just of the American foreign policy establishment but of the country’s entire political class, the media and even the wider public ... If there is a consolation to be drawn from A Problem from Hell it is that the book’s immense success in America, where it has been festooned with awards, including a coveted Pulitzer prize, might just suggest a sea-change in public attitudes.
Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt
PositiveThe Times (UK)Trigger warnings. Safe spaces. Preferred pronouns. Checked privileges. If you work at an American university these days, you have to tread as if on eggshells, if not land mines ... The speed with which campus life has changed for the worse is one of the most important points made by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt in this important if disturbing book.
