Topics covered:
Biothreats
Climate Change
Critical Infrastructure Failure
Cyberthreats
Nuclear Conflict

To be honest, this book was pretty interesting, would recommend when you have some spare time.

Rethinking Readiness gives an overview of possible megadisasters - disasters on such a scale that recovery after the event isn't enough, there needs to be a more comprehensive preparedness.

The megadisasters discussed are biothreats (extreme weather, earthquakes, diseases), climate change, critical infrastructure failure (bridges collapsing, but also a failing power grid), cyberthreats, nuclear conflict and crosscutting between various disasters.

Each chapter first defines the type of disaster, and the subtypes that invariably exist, using previous disasters to illustrate. Then follows a discussion of what is currently in place (in the U.S.) to prevent these disasters, but more importantly what should be in place.

The best chapter is the last one, and the conclusion that follows. Here the real problems for disaster prevention in the U.S. come to the fore - politicians who only think in the short term, because voters also generally think in the short term. And disaster preparedness might not actually be useful until decades later. So politicians who clean up a disaster after the fact are lauded, instead of being asked why the disaster wasn't prevented.

The writing has a matter of fact tone, and it should be no problem for a layman to get to grips with. That said, it remains just an overview, and I do find myself wondering who this book is for. The previously mentioned layman can't do a lot to help in this preparedness (the idea of a survival kit is up for discussion too - there is no real evidence these kits actually helped in previous disasters). Perhaps the book is useful for professionals, or for students, but then the book doesn't seem to go deep enough.

I have seen some reviewers mention that the book misses a couple of steps by not including the current Covid-19 pandemic, but I don't agree. The part of the book on pandemics pretty much indicates what actually happened (I also think it's too early to properly analyse Covid-19, as we're still in the middle of it), and it pinpoints what should've been done to be better prepared.

I'll leave you with the opening paragraph of the chapter on nuclear conflict, which put a (nervous) smile on my face:

"If you happen to be in relatively close proximity to a nuclear weapon detonation and need to rapidly evaluate what to do next, the good news is that you are not dead!"

That's the spirit.

As I wrote my review I increased my rating because I think recent events in this time of pandemic have demonstrated that what's obvious to me is not obvious to others. There's a vocal subset of the population who needs to learn to rethink readiness.

The formatting of this egalley made it difficult to follow and, ultimately, I didn't finish this book for review. This book is absolutely front page news and would be a great read, except . . . because the writing was done pre-Covid 19, the absence of material specifically addressing this crisis makes this book unappealing. I agree with the other reviewer who noted that holding and revising this one would make it marketable.

There would be no better time than present to read such book which focuses on disasters.
As world tries to survive covid-19, this book is very timely description of various megadisasters which are quite possible in coming decades.
It discusses bio threats, superbugs, Infrastructure failures and climate change.

There are very interesting and recent examples of disasters and their impact.
There is also discussion about what can be done to survive these.
Book is short, Interesting and very informative.
It provides many things that can be learnt and leveraged upon in ever unstable ecological balance.
Thanks netgalley and publisher for review copy.

It's a unique and unexpectedly timely coincidence for me to be reviewing a book that looks into twenty-first century megadisasters in the midst of a global pandemic. Rethinking Readiness takes a brief look into the history and current direction of disaster prepardness planning, and is due to be published in the summer; months after the world coming to grips with the chaos and fear of this current health crisis. The book provides an overview of biothreats, climate change, critical infrastructure, cyberthreats, nuclear conflict, and cross-cutting threats.

Will it fix the immediate crisis? No.

Is it still worthwhile to read? Yes.

Will it help to provide context for the current chaos? Yes, and I do wish this wasn't a brief guide but a deep comprehensive review. But that's not the goal of this slim volume. Schlegelmilch, in Rethinking Readiness, provides an approachable and understandable history to help us begin to reframe and strategize. Disaster science is still in its infancy and globalisation has completely changed the world we know. Covid-19 has implications that will be more far reaching than we can comprehend today. This book will help us begin to reframe our views.

An addendum: Schlegelmilch stated via Twitter on 03 April 2020 that he drafted a new preface to discuss the implications of Covid-19 & why its impacts will reach far beyond pandemics. I look forward to reading it when available.

STOP THE PRESSES! This nonfiction book has a publishing date of July 14, 2020, and has already become outdated in the light of the current worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. I would urge the publisher to postpone publishing this book 'as is' if at all possible until the crisis has ended, giving the author time to include it in this important and timely guide to preparing for megadisasters: to discuss what worked and what systems crumbled during the crisis, and what we could possibly do differently in the future to better prepare ourselves. Now THAT would be a terrific book!

Topics covered:
Biothreats
Climate Change
Critical Infrastructure Failure
Cyberthreats
Nuclear Conflict

and Conclusions:
Investing in Today, Investing in Tomorrow

I received an arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my review.