How to Survive a Crisis

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From the former Director of GCHQ comes an invaluable guide to surviving crises – how to spot them early and lessen their devastating consequences – using the latest intelligence strategies

‘David Omand is exactly the man you need in a crisis’ RORY STEWART

We never know when a crisis might explode. Some ‘sudden impact’ events, such as terrorist attacks or natural disasters, blow up out of a clear blue sky. Other ‘slow burn’ crises smoulder away for years, often with warning signs ignored along the way until, as if from nowhere, the troops storm the palace.

In How to Survive a Crisis, Professor Sir David Omand draws on his experience in defence, security and intelligence, including as Director of GCHQ and UK Security and Intelligence Coordinator, to show how you can detect a looming crisis and extinguish it (or at least survive it with minimum loss).

Using gripping real-world examples from Omand’s storied career, and drawing lessons from historic catastrophes such as Chernobyl, 9/11, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the WannaCry ransomware cyberattack, this empowering book is filled with practical advice on how to survive the multiplying crises of the future. Not every crisis need tip into disaster – if we have invested in personal, business and national resilience.

This is an essential toolkit for our turbulent twenty-first century, as well as an exhilarating read for anyone interested in the state of our world – and how we might improve it.

‘This book is the instruction manual we all need’ SIR ALEX YOUNGER, CHIEF OF MI6David Omand is one of Britain’s most distinguished public servants – he combines deep experience from an exceptional career in public service with a rare capacity for communicating complexity, and the challenges of government and intelligence. He is exactly the man you need in a crisis—Rory Stewart

Piercingly insightful, brilliantly lucid and illuminating, frightening and wise. Professor Sir David Omand has spent his life working at the very heart of the state and he brings this unique historical perspective to disasters that have befallen – and could yet befall – the nation and the wider world. From nuclear meltdown to apocalyptic cyber-attacks, from pandemics to the drums of war, here is a remarkable record of how the threads of society can be held firm in the darkest days. He writes with passion, fierce intelligence, sometimes with anger but also, fundamentally, with an optimistic vision: civilisation can prevail—Sinclair McKay, Sunday Times-bestselling author of Dresden

An extraordinary achievement. Probably the best book ever written on crisis management which, as Sir David Omand persuasively argues, mostly amounts to “crisis survival”. A superlative blend of his personal experience of modern crises and historical insights. Essential reading for our post-Covid-19 world—Christopher Andrew

An amazing book. Timely, essential and important. The brilliantly insightful David Omand draws on his unmatched experience to explore the complexities of crisis. He shows us how poor preparation leads to failure, but applied intelligence saves lives. There is a lesson for all of us on every page, moreover it’s a fascinating read—Richard Aldrich, author of GCHQ

As the world belatedly wakes up to the importance of resilience, this book is the instruction manual we all need. Leaders, in particular, should take note. It will be your imagination, ownership and example that will be decisive as we fight to defend that most precious of things: normality—Sir Alex Younger, Chief of MI6

If anyone knows how to handle a catastrophe, it’s the former director of GCHQ—Anna Bonet, i

David Omand was at the heart of British government for decades with a ringside seat for many of the crises of that period. This book distils that rare and valuable experience. There are useful insights on virtually every page – along with handy checklists for those tasked with decision-making during a crisis and even a guide to protect one’s own household. As a nation we should be taking our resilience and preparedness much more seriously. This important book is an indispensable guide as to how we could do it—Lord Toby Harris

We live in a world where crises have become the new normal. Here is the survival guide you need! David Omand distils a lifetime’s experience at the heart of British security into practical advice for governments, businesses and families on how to prepare for, and bounce back from, the disruptive events we will all face—Peter Ricketts

David Omand is the insiders’ insider with real-life experience and here he provides a fascinating and informed insight into the way crises develop, how to handle them and importantly, how to prevent them. It is a striking and expert checklist for dealing with the many future challenges awaiting us—George Robertson, 10th Secretary General of NATO and former British Secretary of State for Defence.

As David observes, no one manages a crisis. Yet this remarkable book will help you survive one with some finesse. But only if you read it in advance—Professor Michael Mainelli, Chairman, Z/Yen Group, Sheriff of the City of London 2019-2021

David Omand has unparalleled experience of crisis and risk management. It shines through in this thoughtful and practical guide to crisis management and resilience—Jonathan Evans, former Director General of MI5

Offers a masterclass into how to respond to and manage a crisis, but it delivers far more than just the topline title. It has fascinating capsule histories of recent crises, insights into human psychology during a crisis, the applicability of physical-world lessons to digital-world emergencies . . . a very clever book about much more than it initially lets on—Joshua Huminski, DC Diplomatic CourierDavid Omand was the first UK Security and Intelligence Coordinator, responsible to the Prime Minister for the professional health of the intelligence community, national counter-terrorism strategy and “homeland security”. He served for seven years on the Joint Intelligence Committee. He was Permanent Secretary of the Home Office from 1997 to 2000, and before that Director of GCHQ.GB

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