Over the last 30 years, we learned every lesson needed to stop this coronavirus outbreak in its tracks. We heeded almost none of them. The result is a pandemic on a scale never before seen in our lifetimes. Here, science journalist Debora MacKenzie lays out the full story of how and why it happened: the previous viruses that should have prepared us, the shocking public health failures that paved the way, the failure to contain the outbreak, and most importantly, what we must do to stop this happening again. Offering a compelling history of the most significant recent outbreaks, including SARS, MERS, H1N1, Zika, and Ebola, MacKenzie outlines the lessons we failed to learn from each past crisis. But looking forward, she makes a bold, optimistic argument: this pandemic might finally galvanize the world to take viruses seriously. No one has yet brought together our knowledge of Covid-19 in a comprehensive, informative, and accessible way. But that story can already be told, and Debora MacKenzie's urgent telling is required reading for these times and beyond. Fighting this pandemic and preventing the next one will take political action of all kinds, globally, from governments, the scientific community, and individuals -- and if we act now, it is possible.