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Diary of a Psychosis: How Public Health Disgraced Itself During COVID Mania

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FOREWORD BY JAY BHATTACHARYA, MD, PHD

You remember the some locations did better than others on Covid because those places followed the rules, and others foolishly ignored them. Covid spread was your fault, you science hater!

There is precisely zero evidence behind any aspect of this morality play, which is demolished by this book.

Diary of a Psychosis is different from all other books on it traces the development of the government response as it happened, bit by bit, and subjects it to relentless did any of it do any good?

It thereby preserves some of the crucial day-to-day details that other chronicles have forgotten. And it's those little details of the bizarre behavior of those years that, presented together, preserve for the reader the full horror of the madness of those dark days.

The more people know the information in this book, the harder it will be for the ruling classes to do this to us again.

603 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 4, 2023

150 people are currently reading
778 people want to read

About the author

Thomas E. Woods Jr.

48 books474 followers
Thomas Ernest Woods Jr. is an American author, podcast host, and libertarian commentator who is currently a senior fellow at the Mises Institute. A proponent of the Austrian School of economics, Woods hosts a daily podcast, The Tom Woods Show, and formerly co-hosted the weekly podcast Contra Krugman.
Woods' The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History in 2004 interpreted U.S. history through a paleoconservative and, as described by some writers, pro-Confederate lens. This, and his 2009 book Meltdown on the financial crisis of 2007–2008, became New York Times bestsellers. His subsequent writing has focused on promoting libertarianism and libertarian leaning political figures such as former Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul. Woods also teaches homeschooling courses on Western civilization and government called The Liberty Homeschooler as part of the Ron Paul Curriculum.
In 1994, Woods was a founding member of the League of the South, but he no longer associates with it.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
Profile Image for Jane.
729 reviews35 followers
May 2, 2024
This one's taking a while. Not because it isn't interesting. It is.
But because I was reading all of this as it was happening, and it is just too frustrating reading too much of it at one time, knowing that the people who really need to see it will be just as dismissive now as they were then.
Profile Image for Ryan.
4 reviews
December 8, 2023
Required Reading!

Tom's book is an essential reminder of how absolutely upside March 2020 to early 2023 was in the United States and around the world. Even as someone who received all of these newsletters during the events, and as someone who experienced too much of the madness firsthand while living near Seattle, Washington in 2020, I was blown away by having it all laid out like this. This book is indispensable in recording the sinister events that hurt so many around the world. Thank you, Tom, for writing it. May it remind all of us of what we were subjected to and may it also prepare us to better resist the next time such tyranny appears on our doorstep.
Profile Image for Stephen.
1,960 reviews141 followers
December 14, 2023
Tom Woods is a historian and podcast host with a daily newsletter which (in part) analyzes issues of the day from a libertarian point of view. From February 2020 forward, both the podcast and the newsletter were largely oriented toward making sense of COVID — at first the virus and its effects, but then the broader effects of attempts at containment measures. Diary of a Psychosis is a selected collection of those COVID-related newsletters, beginning in February 2020 and moving forward until spring 2023. As you might guess from the title, Diary is highly critical of the way governments and public health agencies across the world, but especially within the United States, reacted to the pandemic. It is so not because of Woods’ libertarian scruples, but from the enormous human suffering that followed in the wake of a prolonged ‘health’ measures. Draconian lockdowns and dehumanizing mask mandates would be poor responses even if they were proven to be efficacious, Wood argues, but the worst part is that they were never proven as such.

The core of the book is Woods responding to news of various measures, and wrangling with data, especially as he and everyone else paying attention began realizing something screwy going on. Despite the confidence of The Science, imposed measures repeatedly don’t correlate to results: states with similar demographics have similar COVID waves despite imposing different levels of masking, supposed surges after events like Thanksgiving 2020 or Superbowl 2021 don’t appear, inexplicable spikes appear that no one can explain, deaths decline in states giving up on containment measures and increase in states that maintain them, etc. A running theme in this is Woods using his newsletter to monitor moving goalposts and compare predictions against actual outcomes, something The Authorities would rather us not do. Why can’t they simply admit when they don’t know why what’s happening is happening?, asks Woods. Why the continuing masquerade of confidence and certainty? And why, when we are sailing into uncharted waters in which no one has authoritative experience, are dissenting voices not only being ignored but actively suppressed (by twitter and facebook) despite coming from people with medical pedigrees just as robust as those dominating the news? Reportage and commiseration are another strong part of the book: Woods continues to travel throughout the lockdown period, reporting on areas that are both opening up and doubling down on their coronatainment measures, and shares letters from readers who see in his newsletters a rare breath of fresh air keeping their hopes alive despite being cut off from loved ones and overwhelmed by the culture of fear. Part of why Woods is offering this book (as well as Collateral Damage: Victims of the Lockdown Regime Tell Their Stories) is so that the cruel foolishness of the past three years is remembered next time — and those who abused the public’s trust and their perceived authority are brought to some manner of justice, if only by being sacked. The consequences of coronamania will be far-reaching: young people whose educations were derailed, children whose social development was marred by isolation and the spectre of facelessness, teens who are mental wrecks because they came of age amid multiple “We’re Doomed” cults etc — but there are other ramifications Woods touches on, like the bankrupting of public trust in health institutions, whether they acted out of honest and well meaning ignorance, or vanity in their own imagined self-importance. There will be pandemics in future, and if amends and corrections are not made, then public reaction based on the often irrational and inhumane COVID measures will undermine appropriate response to threats that don’t have a 99% survival rate for the majority of the population.
Profile Image for Sandy Klein.
57 reviews1 follower
September 19, 2024
Now the Covid skeptics feel like the smartest people in the room.

Excellent work by Tom Woods and it really is written like a diary because it’s a compilation of his near daily newsletters throughout the pandemic. Yes, there was a pandemic, but to say the hysteria over it was unwarranted is a vast understatement. The book shows again and again that the predictions of doom never came true, the doomers were flat wrong 100% of the time. Some people who tried to shame me over not getting the rushed (therefore rather experimental) vaccine owe me an apology. I got Covid in Nov 2020 and recovered with no problems so I feel no compunction about waiting it out and seeing how the vaccine went. The result is that I see and hear of fully vaccinated people still getting sick with Covid and I haven’t had it since Thanksgiving 2020.

The book provides hard data on how the lockdowns, the mask mandates, and the social distancing made zero difference in the spread of Covid. Florida has a much older population (one of the nation’s oldest) but fared as well or much better than other states with the youngest populations (see especially California) when it’s the latter that had the strictest Covid restrictions and not the former. While the restrictions made zero difference in the pattern of Covid spread, the hysteria around it resulted in drastically fewer health screenings (cancer diagnoses were way down in the second half of 2020) and increased mental health disorders (depression, anxiety, alcohol and other substance abuses). Here in Texas, the state opened earlier than at least half the country with no spikes or (my favorite) “super spreader events” like was predicted by the gloom and doom forecasters. Woods provides the data with sources so you can check it for yourself.

Fauci and other “public health experts” are no sadder to hear of a pandemic than Jim Cantore is to hear of a deadly hurricane. Economics teaches us that incentives matter. A good rule of thumb is always to “follow the money” and to ask “who benefits?” Doing that will get you closer to a real answer to who/what/why something happened. (See https://www.newsweek.com/fauci-making...)
Profile Image for Ryan Beltz.
93 reviews5 followers
April 6, 2025
Let’s get this out of the way up front: Thomas Woods Jr. doesn’t mince words. He comes out swinging, and if you were paying any attention during the COVID era (through the fog of fear, shifting guidelines, and Fauci soundbites), a lot of what he says might sound—dare I say—familiar now. The same headlines and declarations that were labeled conspiracy theories not long ago are starting to look a lot more like uncomfortable truths. The New York Times admits the lab-leak theory is plausible. School lockdowns? Yeah, maybe not the smartest move. A targeted approach? Turns out, that might’ve been better.

Woods is here for his victory lap, and to be fair, he’s earned a few chest pounds. He lays bare the ever-shifting goalposts, the double-speak, and the bureaucratic acrobatics—especially when it comes to Fauci. He paints him less like a man of science and more like a seasoned political operator desperate to cover his own tail. If you were skeptical of the mainstream COVID narrative, this book will feel like sweet vindication.

That said… and this is where the gears grind a bit for me—the book quickly veers into talk radio territory. It’s informative, sure. The “diary” format works as a time capsule of some truly bonkers moments. But after a while, it starts to feel repetitive, like listening to the same caller rant on AM radio every day at 4:15 p.m. There’s not much depth, just more of the same outrage—well-earned, yes—but still, a missed opportunity to dig deeper into the long-term fallout.

Woods also doesn’t leave much room for grace. He comes at public health officials with a flamethrower, lumping in everyone from Fauci to your aunt who just wanted to protect grandma. And look—I get it. The cost-benefit analysis of lockdowns, the surge in mental health issues, missed cancer diagnoses, economic devastation—all of it needs to be held under a microscope. But Woods seems more interested in exile than accountability. He treats the people who got it wrong the way the far left treats Trump supporters: as moral reprobates who must be banished from polite society. That kind of siloed thinking is part of what got us into this mess.

In the end, Diary of a Psychosis isn’t the definitive COVID reckoning book, but it does play a role. Books like this will become more common as the fog lifts and the narratives evolve—especially with the growing skepticism around vaccines, lockdowns, and the origins of the virus. These are conversations we need to have. I just don’t know if Woods is the guy to lead the charge. He’s armed with receipts, sure. But he’s also wielding a sledgehammer when a scalpel would’ve done.

Still… if you like your truth with a side of fire and fury, it’s worth a read.
Profile Image for Joseph Knowles.
Author 9 books11 followers
February 23, 2024
It wasn’t always a fun time recounting the madness we lived through from 2020 onward, but I’m glad I did it anyway. There were things I had forgotten about (perhaps on purpose), but they are things that should not be forgotten. Woods has chronicled the madness in a comprehensive yet approachable way. If it’s an option for you, I recommend the audiobook so you can hear Woods put the proper emphasis on words like “cases” and “Eric Feigl Ding.” 😆
Profile Image for Dave.
268 reviews20 followers
April 22, 2024
There is absolutely NO shortage of things to be angry about when it comes to the response to COVID over 2020-2023'ish. That being said, this book was a fantastic "diary" written in real-time as that insanity was taking place. Very quickly into the "pandemic" I thought things were fishy but I was surrounded by people who bought the overarching story hook, line, and sinker. I could not for the life of me fathom why people were so gullible but when you realize that a terrified populace will comply with just about anything for the sake of safety, it makes a bit more sense. There were so many "takeaways" in this book but I have to trim down to the biggest ones. The "takeaways" from this book were more just a "oh yeah, I forgot about how stupid THAT was" right before moving onto another "oh yeah and THAT was really stupid too".....This book should be required material for anyone who thinks "oh the gov will definitely have a handle on ____"

***2020***
- May 5 / Neil Ferguson was one of the modelers who predicted AIRBORNE ARMAGGEDON! Same guy predicted 65k people in the UK would die of swine flu; the actual number was 457. He said that 200M people would die from bird flu; the actual number was 282. This clown, even after vouching for the most stringent lockdowns for everyone ELSE had some visitors himself, enough that he resigned from his position. What an absolute clown.

- May 6 / Lord Sumption, a British author and judge states early on "What sort of life do we think we are protecting? There is more to life than the avoidance of death. Life is a drink with friends. Life is a crowded football match or a live concert. Life is a family celebration with children and grandchildren. Life is companionship, an arm around one’s back, laughter or tears shared at less than two metres. These things are not just optional extras. They are life itself. They are fundamental to our humanity, to our existence as social beings. Of course death is permanent, whereas joy may be temporarily suspended. But the force of that point depends on how temporary it really is."

- May 25 / This "Daniel Uhlfelder" loser who dressed as the Grim Reaper handing out body bags to people enjoying themselves on the beach

- Aug 10 / Author passage "If I graph the progress of the virus in numerous states—some with bars open, others with them closed, some with restaurants open at 25 or 50 percent capacity (good luck staying in business like that) and some with restaurants fully open—you will not be able to tell me which is which. It’s all theater, egged on by politicians who have a unique opportunity to exercise power righteously, and to portray themselves as having saved lives even though the virus appears to peak and taper off according to the same pattern everywhere, regardless of our non-pharmaceutical intervention"

- Sep 3 / Studying the statistics and turns out the areas with the most extreme lockdowns had the HIGHEST spread of the virus; so weird, almost like staying inside and depriving yourself of Vitamin D while breathing in the same rotating air just MIGHT not be the best method to deal with an airborne virus

- Sep 14 / Doctor reports that an old lady broke her femur in a fall but was so terrified to leave her house that it remained fractured for MONTHS.

- Dec 16 / "If I’m elderly and in a nursing home and cannot see or embrace anyone in my family, and I cannot socialize or do anything, please don’t congratulate yourself for keeping me alive. You’ve already killed me"

- Dec 17 / "This is why decontextualized numbers don’t help us. We need to know what’s typical. Saying an ICU is 85 percent occupied sounds scary to people who don’t know anything. But they generally have to be at least that occupied for a hospital to stay afloat." This was the first thing that felt "off" to me in April of 2020; the news touted the doom and gloom that ICUs were at 88% capacity or something, which DOES sound bad. Taken in the context of a normal operating budget requires it be be 80% or something anyway, that just means that like one more person came in. Damn that critical thinking and context when it comes to propaganda.

***2021***
- Jan 26 / "Thus the government insisted on a mass early release of prisoners because an estimated 2,700 would die of the virus. In the event, 47 died. 'I appreciate that these estimates aren’t an exact science, but the difference between a prediction of 2,700 to the reality of 47 is embarrassing to say the least, and shows why the government must not hand over total policy control to the scientists who are clearly not infallible with their predictions.'"

- Feb 2 / Remember the "wear two masks" from Fauci?

- Mar 15 / "A recent study confirms that up to 78% of cancers were never detected due to missed screening over three months. If one extrapolates to the entire country, up to a million new cases or more over nine months will have gone undetected. That health disaster adds to missed critical surgeries, chemotherapy, organ transplants, presentations of pediatric illnesses, heart attack and stroke patients too afraid to call emergency services, and others, all well documented"

- May 12 / So many broken brains as a result of their nonsense..."My daughter made dinner reservations, and another friend invited them to see live music outside. It is important to note that my daughter has one shot of the vaccine, and that her long time friend not only had Covid, but is fully vaccinated, and the friend they are meeting had Covid—and they are all under 25, so already not at great risk"; anecdote continues that the long time friend had a panic attack and started freaking out about the crowded restaurant and the follow-on concert.

- May 20 / Fantastic multi-point takedown on how unbelievably ineffective (and just plain stupid) the masks were

- Aug 16 / "It is truly like living in a Kafka novel. Nothing makes sense. People touted as experts on TV repeatedly tell you things you can disprove with three mouse clicks, and most people act as if this is normal."

- Nov 14 / Remember when they redefined "vaccination"? 😡

***2022***
- Jan 6 / After an outbreak of COVID at a research station in Antarctica; "If this can happen as far away from civilization as it is possible to be, then forget about it. By depriving yourself of the joys of life all you’re doing is stealing time from yourself that you can never get back."

- Apr 22 / "We already knew that’s how Fauci felt about restraints on him or on “public health” at large, but it’s refreshing to hear him state it so clearly: you can’t have legal recourse against us because we’re looking out for what’s best for you."

- Jul 22 / "...drastically lowered my estimation of mankind. I am still flabbergasted at the nonsense so many people went along with, when the truth was not hard to find—and when these people’s very lives hung in the balance! They couldn’t even take a few minutes to figure out whether their lives were being ruined for a good reason or not?" - This right here is how I felt the entire time

- Sep 22 / "There is comfort in following the crowd even while it is stampeding in the wrong direction. We wouldn’t let go of lockdown even after the evidence of the harm it was causing became so compelling that the WHO itself came to reject it.”

***2023***
- Feb 7 / The entire entry is a pretty complete breakdown/pushback on the abject failure of "The Experts" during this time period; he references a document put together by some of the authors of the Great Barrington Declaration with questions for "The Experts" to include the following;

Why did Fauci and Collins get such a monopoly on decision-making?
How many people had complications from diabetes as a result of lockdowns and being unable to visit the doc?
Anxiety, depression, alcoholism, suicide etc etc ALL increased as a result of lockdowns
Why were people discouraged to go OUTSIDE to exercise?
What were the rates of obesity during this time frame (hint, 42% of adults claimed to have gained an avg of 29lb)
What was the fallout of the small businesses that were forced to close as a result? What about those owners? Those employees?
How could the modelers have been SO WRONG?
Was there any clinical advice/input on the widespread use of ventilators (which ended up killing more people than necessary by blowing out their lungs)
At what point did the vaccine "can keep you from getting and spreading the virus" became an obvious lie that continued to be touted in the media?

Again, this book should be required reading if for no other reason as a reminder of how incompetent (and downright malicious) people can be if given a little power and a direction to use it.
3 reviews
March 20, 2024
"As the Covid fiasco wore on, I observed to my horror how many people went along without question with the pointless restrictions that were ruining lives- and never even bothered to find out if any of it accomplished anything" Tom Woods

From the lockdowns, to mask mandates, to lying about effective treatments, to a harmful vaccine with no testing, the experts got it wrong every step of the way and they silenced the people telling the truth. I can't begin to understand the motive- whether it was for profit, for power and control, or for more nefarious reasons. We came so close to falling into an authoritarian state and so many people willingly walked ahead and questioned nothing then and still don't bother to ask the questions now. As for me, this book is a stark reminder of how important it is to stand on your principles and learn to discern between facts and state run propaganda.

If you feel like you have amnesia regarding all the insanity that they pushed during the last 4 years, read this book to be reminded so we never forget, so they never have another chance to grab power in such a forceful manner.
Profile Image for Lauren.
4 reviews
March 20, 2024
This book reviews all the interviews, data, reports, and government conversations/documents that everyone needs to know about but unfortunately few people seem to know about regarding the COVID-19 fiasco. Everyone should know about the true diabolical intentions behind the government's completely unscientifically based interventions with zero consideration of the costs to real people. Excellent work.
Profile Image for Connor Cunningham.
16 reviews
June 28, 2024
There is only one way to describe society during covid:

It was like living under totalitarian rule.

People were told they couldn't go to the gym, to see their family, to work, or to the movies. Business owners could only open their shops if the government said they could. People were told how far apart to stand. Children were told whether they could or couldn't go to school to receive a proper education. People were told to get a vaccine (from the most corrupt pharmaceutical company to ever exist) or lose their jobs. If you didn't get a vaccine you were not allowed to attend any events with people. If you did in fact lose your job - because of the government mind you - you could only survive if the state approved and provided your welfare.

Absolute lunacy.

Republican/Democrat, doesn't matter. Government is trash and this book only solidifies that.
27 reviews3 followers
December 19, 2023
In "Diary of a Psychosis," Tom Wood meticulously chronicles the COVID-19 timeline, delving into aspects like masks, lockdowns, and vaccine mandates. Through graphs, charts, and personal anecdotes, he contends that governmental actions had little impact on the pandemic's ultimate outcome. This thought-provoking book is a must-read for those seeking a distinctive perspective on the events of the pandemic.
Profile Image for Luke.
7 reviews
January 11, 2024
"Everybody already knows what the problems are. What the world needs now isn't more articles telling them about the problems. What the world needs is someone to hoist a flag and say: I'm determined to do something about this, and if you are, too, then come join me." This powerful statement by Tom Woods from July 22, 2022, is the heartbeat of this book (diary entry title: "The wrong lessons are being drawn from Covid"). Before I delve in, I wanted to ask where were you when they slammed the brakes on "normal" and told us it'd only take 15 days to "slow the spread"? It was spring. A short time later, our ruling class said they'd need 30 more days of lockdowns so hospitals would not be overwhelmed. Do you recall Joe Biden promising a winter of severe illness and death for the unvaccinated? Thankfully, individuals like Tom Woods kept up with regular communication during the COVID years of 2020 through 2023. This book is made up of Tom's date-stamped e-news updates to his growing audience. In these pages you'll find Tom questioning the public health company line. Yes, COVID posed a threat to our well-being. But was everyone at equal risk? If not, why did we quarantine the healthy along with the vulnerable? Did masking up the world, including small children, make any difference in case counts (spoiler: no, and you'll see tons of charts proving this point). Tom's diary entries are brief but potent. His writing style is casual and accessible. He leans on anti-lockdown heroes like Martin Kulldorff, Jay Bhattacharya, and Ron DeSantis. One thought provoking entry is February 7, 2023 ("Covid Commission? Here's what to ask it"). Here Martin Kulldorff poses questions about the negative impacts of our COVID response on other areas of health. "Anxiety and depression increased during the 2020 lockdowns...why did public health authorities not consider such adverse effects?" Why, indeed. "Why were beaches, basketball courts, playgrounds, and similar venues closed, preventing people from exercising and socializing in low-risk environments?" Exactly! "When small businesses were forced to close, much of their business was taken over by large corporations that were allowed to operate when small business couldn't. Why were larger businesses provided this competitive advantage? Can this be reversed? If not, what are the long-term health consequences of having fewer small businesses?" These questions get to the big issues. But Tom's diary entries also touch on the sillier details of the times. Remember taped arrows on the floor of grocery stores, clean/dirty cups for pens at the doctor's office, roped-off tables at restaurants, and that guy who dressed up as the Grim Reaper and tried to scare people on Florida beaches? It's all in here. The silly, the sad, the serious. Don't miss out on this important historical document, it's worth every penny.
Profile Image for Marilyn.
130 reviews3 followers
April 21, 2024
This book is a battle cry from the annals of the Covid crazy lockdown madness. I am outraged all over again at the insanity I lived through in the once great state of New York. Also known as Sodom. For a state and a people obsessively arrogant about their intellect and wealth it generates, you would think that at least the elites would have risen above the lies and destruction of our society but they are still at it FOUR YEARS later. And this book is the account of this insanity. The people who screamed “FOLLOW THE SCIENCE” never read any science and only what MSM told them. They called the police on their neighbors! (And in another book I am perpetually reading, the Bible, it’s not lost on me that the Good Lord is certainly showing us the separation of the wheat from the chaff.) They threw things at people in the grocery store for not wearing a mask! They even called the police then, too! They sprayed Fantastik in a child’s maskless face at an outdoor protest of lockdowns! This book gives the timeline of the headlines, the actual science, the charts, the comparatives between states and how it all affected the outcomes, and the blow-by-blow across a three year span. This book should be read so that the details of the lies are not forgotten. And this book should be purchased and gifted so the next generation can read about what happened to their lives due to tyrants.
Tom Woods’ style of sarcastic truth at least has the reader grateful to know we truly weren’t alone in our sheer shock at the way people swallowed the incessant lies for so many years, “book, line, and sinker”.
This book is a MUST HAVE for every home across the country.
33 reviews1 follower
December 30, 2024
Diary of a Psychosis is the best summary of the COVID insanity that we lived through in 2020 and 2021. There were so many awful policies and rules and lies that I completely forgot about.

In some ways, this is one of the most important books that I have ever read. We need to learn from the mistakes made to ensure that we, as a society, do not repeat them in the future. It seems unlikely that there will be any real accountability for the "experts" who were wrong about nearly every single component of the COVID-19 virus from the origin of the virus (The experts insisted it came from a pangolin in a wet market, not the coronavirus lab in Wuhan, and that it was racist to suggest it came from the lab), to keeping children isolated and out of school for 18 months despite 0 risk, to the vaccine being safe and effective and it was a 'pandemic of the unvaccinated'.

Since the "experts" who lied about everything will not face any accountability, we need to remember what happened so we know who to trust and who to ignore in the future. Humans are meant to be free and healthy, and the COVID regime in the USA and abroad tried their damndest to take that away from us.

Diary of a Psychosis by the great Tom Woods is the best summary of the insanity. Everyone should read it now, and keep it on your shelf to make sure your future self and future generations can learn lessons from the suffering we all endured thanks to the "experts" who started the whole damn COVID virus in the first place while funding gain of function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virality in the first place.
11 reviews
April 9, 2024
During the COVID mania, many of us knew that something was wrong. What we were being told didn’t add up; it didn’t make sense. “Don’t wear a mask.” Then, “Wear a mask.” Then, “Wear two masks.” This was not science, and we knew it.

The most remarkable thing about this book is that all the writing was contemporaneous. Tom recognized that the Public Health voices were misleading, if not speaking outright falsehoods. He took big risks writing about it – the risks of being criticized, censored, ostracized, de-platformed, and all the other ugly things that the “authorities” can do when their narrative is being threatened. Ultimately, he has been totally vindicated. The logical arguments, charts, and graphs all prove that he was correct.

Tom was following the COVID situation more closely than many of us, and his book contains details that few people knew at the time, and most people still don’t know. It’s refreshing to read a book by someone who has done his own independent, intelligent analysis, rather than just echoing the public health people, one of whom had the audacity to proclaim that ‘he is The Science.’

This is how you get to the truth.
Profile Image for Jordan Otto.
20 reviews
February 7, 2025
Very important book that will become more important as time passes and the emotional response to the Covid-restriction dissidents calms down enough for people to take an objective look backwards. Yes, lots of people died directly from Covid and that is very sad, but many people also died or suffered unnecessarily because of the restrictions that were hastily decided, revised, lifted, reinstated, and otherwise as the people in charge were chasing their tails trying to figure out what the hell was going on. It is abundantly clear, in hindsight if not also at the time, that they were at best, misguided, and at worse, downright malicious in their attempts to control the spread of Covid through lockdowns and masks.

4 stars because while the content is valid, it also becomes repetitive. Also, was really hoping for a post-mortem that would sum it all up. It’s literally just Tom’s blog posts from March 2020 through early 2023. Some additional commentary would have been nice, or 100 less pages.
Profile Image for Jack Truman.
137 reviews
December 23, 2024
(4.5)

An incredibly thorough collection of newsletters written by the author throughout the COVID mania. Tom Woods is a hero for what he continues to do with speaking truth in a kind and pleadingly helpful manner. He practically begs criticizers and opponents to listen to the truth, and shows intense humility through casting aside ideological disagreements if it means coming together to demand a reckoning of authoritarian autocrats.

Wood’s writing is familiar to those who listen to his show, he writes how he speaks. This can get repetitive, but it never feels disingenuous. With that sense of repetition, he feels no obligation to hold back from hammering home charts that completely decimate rebuttals that “the experts” are too scared — or if I want to make myself laugh, too self aware — to make.
Profile Image for Garrick Andres.
79 reviews3 followers
October 28, 2024
This book offers a month-by-month breakdown of the Covid-19 pandemic, which provides valuable insight into the unfolding crisis. However, it suffers from some repetition and, most notably, a weak conclusion. The author missed the opportunity to deliver a powerful summary that could have tied together the key lessons learned from the pandemic. A more impactful ending could have included a reflection on the situation three years later, a fact-based critique of government decisions, and advice on how to handle future crises. While readers can infer these points from the content, having them clearly articulated would have made for a stronger, more satisfying conclusion.
1 review
September 18, 2024
An excellent chronicling of the COVID insanity. The book recalls the lies, fear, censorship and tyrannical policy that destroyed lives pushed throughout the pandemic. When taken at it's whole it's breathtaking at the density of the lies from the government and their friends in media and big pharma. It's crystal clear that only the fog of war, an intense lack of awareness and willful ignorance can allow someone in 2024 to look back on COVID and think that the government merely had our best interests at heart.
Profile Image for Keith Caram.
14 reviews1 follower
January 12, 2025
Great time capsule of the exact events that took place week to week during the Covid 19 pandemic from 2019 - 2023.
This is a book for future generations to get an understanding of what really happened to real people, not some whitewashed version that will decorate the insides of future history books.

My biggest complaint is that there was no conclusion or analysis section to sum the whole affair up. The last ten or so pages were an infomercial for the author's online "school of life". Sort of a wet fart to end an otherwise great book on.
Profile Image for Moribund Murdoch.
12 reviews4 followers
July 9, 2024
The book hits you with a lot of depressing stories and clearly shows you the ill effects of the lockdown policies. I quite like this book, but Tom Woods, being a big-time marketing nerd, interrupts his book in the beginning and the end to promote his other projects quite aggressively.The book is also a bit repetitive; you grasp the point early on, but he really drives it home forcefully.
2 reviews
November 14, 2024
Tom Woods Delivers

A great catalogue of the insanity that was COVID. We can forgive our friends and family for their views during this time, but we must never forget. Anyone who was on board with these policies and hasn’t admitted they were wrong, should have all further opinions questioned.
14 reviews2 followers
January 11, 2025
Very important to remind us the madness and evil we have endured and allowed to be imposed on our children and less privileged ones. Could be more selective avoiding excessive cases that are redundant makind the same point. At some point we may be tempted to skip what seems to be more of the same and miss cases that turn out to be more relevant and worthy.
Profile Image for Nate Field.
21 reviews
March 5, 2025
An important chronicle of the COVID-19 years, capturing the absurdity that unfolded. It’s good for what it is—a rigorous, real-time record of a strange era, packed with data, anecdotes, and critiques. These details that already feel surreal just a few years later. Reading it, I’m struck by how insane it is that I lived through this—yet it’s a vital reminder of how quickly reality can spiral.
14 reviews
January 12, 2024
The only way I’d like to relive the COVID years is through Tom Woods’ contact lenses. The book is ripe with powerful ‘I-Told-You-So’ anecdotes, and reaffirms the fact that you cannot trust people who say they are the experts.
234 reviews
June 15, 2024
I will never forgive Tyler Bertuzzi for infecting the whole NHL and forcing the league to start their 2021 holiday break two days early, resulting in my missing the Coyotes home game.

/s but I’m also kinda serious especially now that the Coyotes are relocating to Utah
Profile Image for Stephen Hopkins.
10 reviews
July 7, 2025
The more you read the madder you get remembering the years of Covid and restrictions that took place. But that makes you read all that quicker. Kudos to Tom Woods and his seemingly tireless pursuit of getting this right.
9 reviews
February 8, 2024
Good book for people inside the matrix. If you paid attention to actual science during the pandemic you already know 99% of what is covered in this book. Gov't lies, data doesn't.
151 reviews
November 27, 2024
It's easy to forget, and probably shouldn't be, how insane COVID times were. Great book to help remember the chronological madness.
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