As the coronavirus pandemic swept across the globe in recent months, many countries have had to implement strategies to fight the virus and keep its people safe. These strategies, particularly in the West, have not been as effective at keeping the numbers of infected people as low as the governments would have hoped. Charles R Stith predicted the trajectory the virus would take as its spread progressed and developed a critical analysis of the western countries’ responses to the pandemic. He specifically focuses on South Africa’s response to the virus as it spearheads the surge of cases on the African continent. The crisis has far reaching consequences that impacts the most vulnerable people in the country. A recent OXFAM report draws connections between the lockdown, to hunger, to deaths which confirms the statement Stith made at the beginning of the outbreak about how people would die of hunger as they lose their jobs, their ability to provide for their families and access to fresh foods. Stith wrote this book in real time in response to the growth and spread of the coronavirus and analyses the results of South Africa’s response to it. He gives answers to the questions politicians should have been asking and gives his view of what Africa will require to recover.