A complex story, which Tooze tells with clarity and verve... The world is unlikely to be treated to a better account of the economics of the pandemic.

Shutdown is a seriously impressive book, both endlessly quotable and rigorously analytical. Tooze synthesises a huge volume of information to argue that we must prepare for a new wave of crises or risk being sunk by them. Hopefully, governments everywhere will heed his warning.

Mr Tooze displays a remarkable ability to master the detail ... This is truly a picture of the global impact of the crisis; it covers the disruption in the financial markets, as well as the ins and outs of government policy.

Fascinating, informative and wise.

An admirable work of synthesis and original analysis from the pre-eminent diagnostician of our age of discontents.

What sets [Shutdown] apart is Tooze's ability to keep his eye on the big picture - and the long view ... There will be plenty more books to come on the global economy of 2020. Few will be as timely, as wide-ranging or as clear as Shutdown.

[A] brilliant, bracing account of the Covid pandemic and its protracted political aftermath ... Nuanced and wide-ranging. Tooze has the impressive ability, as a writer, to contextualise historical events as they unfold.

To read Shutdown feels like sitting alongside the great professor while he feverishly collates an array of data and anecdotes, attempts to chronicle what is going on, his head fizzing with ideas about what it might all mean and where it might be leading ... a fine use of one's time.

Of all the instant histories spawned by the pandemic, this is the closest we'll get to a thriller ... it's a story that bears rereading ... a survival guide for the next man-made cataclysm that Adam Tooze warns will surely come soon.

A comprehensive history of an unprecedented year ... Readers will find this deeply informed parsing of the pandemic to be illuminating and thought-provoking.

Tooze examines the unprecedented decision of governments around the world to shutter their economies in the face of pandemic ... As the pandemic hopefully continues to fade, other crises remain. This book is a valuable forecast of future problems.

Some of the stories could be straight out of John Le Carré. The difference is they're true . . . A fascinating tale . . . A great read about very important topics. It's well worth your time.

A fantastic book about the world of commodity trading.

A fascinating, sometimes hair-raising new book . . . A book which on the one hand tells us some really important things about the nature of money, power and the nature of the modern economy, but on the other is just full of some of the most fascinating stories.

The captivating stories of the powerful commodity traders and mystery actors of markets and geopolitics

The blistering tale of a clutch of hard-charging international commodity trading houses such as Cargill and Glencore. The authors, both former FT journalists, trace how they harnessed the commodity boom and the setbacks they now face as climate change casts a shadow over their business model.

A very impressive profile of an industry that has long preferred to avoid the spotlight . . . The authors deftly weave stories of the individual traders and their trades with an account of the major shifts in the global economy of the past 70 years . . . Extensively researched and well written throughout . . . I would not hesitate to recommend this book.

A thriller . . . An engaging story of secret deals and embargo-evasion.

An entertaining history of the rise of the international trading houses and the charismatic, freewheeling risk-takers who headed them.

The story of how a few commodity-trading firms quietly reconfigured the world economy, making fortunes, juggling embargoes and swaying geopolitics.

There was no single, dominant, astonishing voice in the wilderness in the debate on the credit crunch, but... Edward Chancellor, an economic historian, foresaw almost everything.