Wuhan

Yang's expertise in Chinese bureaucratic politics and public health governance, along with the profound impact of infectious disease on his family story in China, shines through in this insightful and compelling narrative. His timely book provides a detailed account and accessible analysis of how the COVID-19 crisis unfolded in China. * Ran Ran, The China Quarterly *
A sobering analysis...Yang chronicles in painstaking detail how the interplay of parochial bureaucratic interests led to the mishandling of sensitive information and escalated what might well have been a contained local epidemic into a global pandemic. * Elizabeth J. Perry, Perspectives on Politics *
This is a careful, detailed look at the Chinese response to Covid-19 that sheds much light on what happened. It also uncovers many lessons not only for China but for every country-and we can only hope the world learns them. * John Barry, Author of The Great Influenza *
In Wuhan, Dali Yang provides a riveting and comprehensive account of how SARS-CoV-2 emerged and evolved into a global pandemic. By focusing on the dynamics that led to the initial outbreak spiraling out of control, the book highlights the bureaucratic-pathological tendencies in China's policy process. Wuhan will undoubtedly capture the interest of students of public health, public policy, and Chinese politics, while also holding relevance for anyone deeply concerned about the future of our planet. * Yanzhong Huang, Council on Foreign Relations *
In this remarkable book, Dali Yang offers a gripping account of the outbreak of Covid-19 in China: day by day, and even hour by hour. It will be the definitive account of the outbreak and the Chinese government's mishandling of it. * Bruce Dickson, George Washington University *
Dali Yang has been one of very top scholars of Chinese bureaucratic politics over the past 30 years. Now, he offers a comprehensive, straightforward, and accessible analysis of the recent era's most spectacular breakdown of Chinese bureaucracy during the early days of Covid. Looking at the granular unravelling of information gathering, inconsistency in messaging and ideological framing, and the shifting dynamics of central-local relations, he provides a compelling account of how China's most tragic governance failure in 40 years allowed the worst pandemic in a century to spiral out of control. * William Hurst, University of Cambridge *
Dali Yang has made a career of thinking dispassionately and insightfully about the Chinese Communist Party and the governance of China. This deeply informed and meticulous analysis of the vexed question of what happened in Wuhan in 2019-2020 is a priceless contribution to a heated debate. * Paul Monk, former head of the China desk in Australia's Defence Intelligence Organisation *
Dali Yang has given us the most detailed look yet at the early stages of the COVID outbreak in China. It is a book that only he could write, drawing on extensive primary evidence and decades of expertise on the politics of public health. This is one of the most important books on Chinese politics ever written. * Rory Truex, Princeton University *
Dali Yang has produced an urgent, compelling, readable account of how the COVID-19 crisis unfolded in China, and beyond. He pulls from a wide range of sources, including official communiques, lab reports, revealing social media threads that outran Chinese censors, and from first-hand accounts by many players close to the action. Yang's account of the crisis in China offers universal lessons and warnings on how people and governments process and use information during crises. In all, it makes for a kind of forensic/policy thriller that is also a tour de force of scholarship and reporting. * Ted C. Fishman, Bestselling author of China, Inc. *
Thorough and thoughtful, Wuhan details the conflicts over information and between institutions that ultimately spiraled into the global COVID-19 pandemic. Dali Yang's deeply researched volume sheds new light on the early actions of the doctors, bureaucrats, officials, and politicians facing the novel coronavirus over these crucial weeks, deepening our understanding of its origins and politics in the country where it originated. * Jeremy Wallace, Cornell University *
A book for public health experts, politicians, academics, students and the interested public, Wuhan is a page-turner not to be missed. * John P. Burns, Emeritus Professor Honorary Professor, Dept. of Politics and Public Administration, The University of Hong Kong *
Unless Chinese archives are opened or leaked, this is likely to be the definitive account of the early phase of the Covid outbreak in China. Yang is an even-handed but strict interpreter of events; he won't pull punches but will also stick close to the facts. * Ian Johnson, senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist (via X/Twitter). *
By far the most detailed, convincing social scientific "origin story" of COVID. * Bin Xu, Associate Professor of Sociology, Emory University *
This is a unique combo of public health, governmental strategy, and pandemic response that is needed to help us respond better next time. * Benjamin F. Pierce, Head of Data Analytics and Partnership, Imperial College Health Partners *
[Wuhan] builds a very human picture of pockets of individual heroism mingled with flawed decision-making and deliberate obfuscation as doctors, epidemiologists, lab workers, and local and national politicians grappled with the appearance of a mysterious "pneumonia of unknown etiology" in real time. * Nicola Smith, The Telegraph *
An exceptionally lucid and meticulous analysis of how medical authorities reacted when the virus first appeared in Wuhan. * Paul Monk, The Australian *
Wuhan: How the COVID-19 Outbreak in China Spiraled Out of Control, by Dali Yang, seeks to provide a comprehensive and critical examination of China's emergency response to the initial COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan in late 2019. * Ran Ran, The China Quarterly *