Life As We Knew It

the extraordinary story of Australia’s pandemic
Aisha Dow, Melissa Cunningham

‘For the record! A terrific account of Australia’s outstanding political and public health response to Covid-19. We all lived through it, and it’s our story.’

Nobel laureate Professor Peter Doherty

‘It will be impossible not to find experiences and reactions that resonate in this remarkable compendium of our pandemic experience, but we are also challenged to learn through the eyes of others.

The authors astutely document political relationships, policy development, and at times deflection of responsibility, unafraid of sharing their views on key decisions and events, whilst remaining firmly focused on the humanity of our response. The pain, loss, and scars of our experience are handled with care and compassion, and so too are the extraordinary stories of generosity and resilience …

But most of all they remind us that everyone wanted Australia to do well — and we did. This is a story of success. It is our story.’

Professor Catherine Bennett, epidemiology chair, Deakin University

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‘Closely reported, written with pace, and acknowledging the personal, this is a must-read about Australia’s unique experience of the pandemic.’

Dr Norman Swan

The gripping inside account of Australia’s extraordinary pandemic story.

It was never part of the plan that Australia would be locked down and shut off from the world for two years. But when the Covid-19 pandemic arrived in 2020, and the bodies began piling up overseas, Australians took unprecedented steps to avoid a catastrophe heading their way. The country’s near-elimination of the deadly virus in the first phase of the pandemic saw it avoid tens of thousands of deaths. But not all Australians were sheltered from disaster, and the strategy came with heavy costs. Many said goodbye to life as they knew it.

With unmatched access to Australia’s top politicians and pandemic officials, Life As We Knew It is a gripping investigation into the nation’s Covid-19 response and its incredible untold human stories. It delves into the worst days of the pandemic and its terrible disasters. But it also shows Australians at their best, the weird and the wonderful, and a public spirit of collectivism over individualism that set the country apart.

The authors travel across the nation shedding new light on the disruptive outbreaks that plunged Victoria and New South Wales into lockdowns. Based on more than 150 interviews, it also examines the unique experience of Australia’s Covid-zero states: Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia, and the Northern Territory — places where it sometimes felt like the pandemic didn’t exist.

Many of the most significant moments in Australia’s pandemic happened behind closed doors. Life As We Knew It unlocks the doors and looks inside.

‘For the record! A terrific account of Australia’s outstanding political and public health response to Covid-19. We all lived through it, and it’s our story.’

Nobel laureate Professor Peter Doherty

Professor Catherine Bennett, epidemiology chair, Deakin University

View all reviews

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Details

Format:Paperback

Size: 234mm × 153mm

Extent:336pp

ISBN (13):9781761380037

RRP:$35.00

Pub date:3 Oct 2023

Rights Held: World

High-res cover:Download Image

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Aisha Dow

Aisha Dow is a multi-award-winning journalist and health editor based at The Age newspaper. She reported on the coronavirus pandemic for more than three years, through six lockdowns in Melbourne. Her investigations exposing the collapse of Victoria’s triple-zero system, with her colleague Nick McKenzie, won a Walkley award. She previously worked on the city beat, uncovering a crisis of faulty, dangerous, and leaking buildings. She is a former Melbourne Press Club Young Journalist of the Year.

Melissa Cunningham

Melissa Cunningham is a multi-award-winning journalist based at The Age in Melbourne. She covered the coronavirus pandemic for more than three years as The Age’s health reporter through six lockdowns. Her news-breaking and investigative skills have been recognised by the Melbourne Press Club, which has awarded her two Quill awards for excellence in journalism. She was awarded for her extensive reporting on clergy and institutional sexual abuse in 2017, and won the best news story of the year in 2021 for a scoop exposing the failures of Victoria’s hotel quarantine program. She has twice been a finalist in the Walkley awards. Cunningham loves telling people’s stories, and values public interest journalism and its role in changing lives.

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Life As We Knew It

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Aisha Dow, Melissa Cunningham

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