The Herd: how Sweden chose its own path through the worst pandemic in 100 years

In the spring of 2020, as a  new and deadly virus rapidly spread across the globe, the world shut  down. But a small country in Northern Europe remained open.

First,  its government instituted no restrictions. Then, it didn’t order the  wearing of face masks. While the rest of the world looked on with  incredulity, condemnation, admiration, and even envy, a small country in  Northern Europe stood alone. As COVID-19 spread across the globe  rapidly, the world shut down. But Sweden remained open.

The  Swedish COVID-19 strategy was alternately lauded and held up as a  cautionary tale by international governments and journalists alike —  with all eyes on what has been dubbed ‘The Swedish Experiment’. But what  made Sweden take such a different path? And did it work.

In The Herd,  journalist Johan Anderberg narrates this improbable story, guiding the  reader through the history and practice of epidemiology, and the  ticking-clock decisions that Sweden's pandemic-response decision-makers  were faced with on a daily basis. Weaving past and present effortlessly,  Anderberg has written a real-life thriller about a nation dealing  differently with a global crisis.