Atlantic signs Letwin's 'ingenious' book on danger of tech

Atlantic Books has signed an “urgent and ingenious” book on the risks of interlinked technology by ex-Cabinet minister Sir Oliver Letwin.

Editorial director Mike Harpley acquired world rights, including audio, from Toby Mundy at Toby Mundy Associates. Apocalypse How?: Technology and the Threat of Disaster will be published on 5th March 2020.

Its synopsis explains: “As technology governs ever more of our lives, we have become dependent on a complex network of interlinked systems. But what if a part of this network fails or is deliberately hacked? Former UK government minister Oliver Letwin looks ten years into the future and imagines just that. Reliant on the internet, automated electric cars, voice-over IP, GPS, and the internet of things, if the national grid collapsed, law and order would follow as multiple systems fell over like dominoes. Urgent and ingenious, this book asks how we can become more resilient to such black-swan events – and if we place too much faith in technology to always have the answers.”

Harpley added: “Oliver is man of vast intelligence and experience. Under David Cameron, he was tasked with investigating the resilience of our infrastructure. He has been in room during top COBR crisis meetings and knows better than anyone about the threats to modern society. Half fictionalised parable and half prescient analysis, this highly original and gripping book reads like a thriller and is a vivid warning of what will happen if we don’t take threats to our infrastructure seriously.”