.

... incredibly-crafted.

Wright...has performed a virtuoso feat and given us a book of panoramic breadth.

... lean-limbed, immersive.

Wright cuts through misinformation to present nearly every aspect of the year 2020, including the biological breakthroughs of vaccines, personal tragedies, and collective trauma. All is thoroughly discussed with empathy and compassion.

... informative and insightful.

... generous in giving people credit for what they did achieve, even when their contribution were uneven.

... dramatic, comprehensive.

The Plague Year exhibits some of the defects of a first rough draft of history. That said, Wright’s well-documented, detailed, and compelling analysis should command our attention..

Grief and guilt, anger and blame, fear and death permeate these pages. But there are also countless examples of hope, sacrifice, and heroic feats. Wright’s interviews with experts in virology, economics, public health, history, politics, and medicine are enlightening.

Particularly compelling is Wright’s straight-line connection of the Jan. 6 Capitol invasion and Trump’s failed attempt to maintain power to the destabilizing effects of the plague. Maddening and sobering—as comprehensive an account of the first year of the pandemic as we’ve yet seen..

... scattershot.