The Precipice: ‘A book that seems made for the present moment’ New Yorker

This book tackles one of the most important issues of our time, and does so excellently. The book is accessible for those new to the topic of existential risks, while also being packed with new and often surprising facts and insights for those more familiar with the topic. Additionally, Ord manages to make a topic that can sometimes feel somewhat distant and abstract instead feel immediate and vivid, and to write surprisingly poetically without sacrificing hard-headed, nuanced analysis. And it is clear throughout that this is not a book about how we will inevitably perish, or about how barren the future will be. Instead, this is a book about what we can do to ensure we succeed, why it's so important that we do those things to succeed, and how vast, breathtaking, and literally marvellous our success could be.