In the spring of 2020, as Covid-19 rapidly spread across the globe, the world shut down. But a small country in Northern Europe remained open. The Swedish Covid-19 strategy has been 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 deviating path? And what can our own leaders learn from their strategy?
In The Herd, journalist Johan Anderberg narrates the improbable story of a nation that took a startlingly different approach to fighting the greatest global pandemic in over one hundred years. First, it was no restrictions. Then, it was no face masks. While the rest of the world looked on with incredulity, condemnation, admiration or even envy, Sweden stood alone.
Johan Anderberg is a seasoned journalist with publications in Swedish and international media outlets, including Fokus, Expressen and the Wall Street Journal. With close access to all the key players in this real-life drama that is unfolding in the present tense, he has a remarkable ear for suspense and a rare ability to make figures and facts come alive.
The Herd will be published in Sweden by Albert Bonniers Förlag in the spring of 2021, and in the US, the UK, and Australia and New Zealand by Scribe in 2022
Scribe's founder and publisher Henry Rosenbloom says: ‘From the start, I was fascinated and disturbed by the way Sweden tried to cope with the Covid pandemic in 2020. Then, when we read the proposal for THE HERD late last year, just as the strategy was becoming more contentious within Sweden, we were highly impressed by the author’s access to the key players, and by the vitality of his writing. We feel sure that this will be a memorable book about a subject that everyone has a vested interest in knowing about.’
Rosenbloom acquired World English language rights from Astri von Arbin Ahlander/Ahlander Agency.