Hope Through History

Jon Meacham examines historical crises - pandemics, wars, depressions, social upheavals - and shows how humanity got through them. Not naive optimism. More like evidence-based reassurance that bad times have happened before and people survived, adapted, and sometimes even improved. Particularly powerful when current events feel overwhelming and unprecedented, because Meacham demonstrates that very little actually is. The historical parallels are illuminating rather than comforting in a cheap way. If you need some perspective when the news feels apocalyptic, this provides it with substance.