Juliette Kayyem at Harvard Book Store

Harvard Book Store welcomes national security expert and bestselling author JULIETTE KAYYEM for a discussion of her latest book, The Devil Never Sleeps: Learning to Live in an Age of Disasters. She will be joined in conversation by award-winning journalist MILES O'BRIEN.

A Return to In-Person Events

Harvard Book Store is excited to re-introduce in-person programming this season, beginning this March. To ensure the safety and comfort of everyone in attendance, the following Covid-19 safety protocols will be in place at all of our Harvard Book Store events until further notice:

• Face coverings are required of all staff and attendees when inside the store. Masks must snugly cover nose and mouth.

About The Devil Never Sleeps

The future may still be unpredictable, but nowadays, disasters are not. We live in a time of constant, consistent catastrophe, where things more often go wrong than they go right. So why do we still fumble when disaster hits? Why are we always one step behind?

In The Devil Never Sleeps, Juliette Kayyem lays the groundwork for a new approach to dealing with disasters. Presenting the basic themes of crisis management, Kayyem amends the principles we rely on far too easily. Instead, she offers us a new framework to anticipate the “devil’s” inevitable return, highlighting the leadership deficiencies we need to overcome and the forward thinking we need to harness. It’s no longer about preventing a disaster from occurring, but learning how to use the tools at our disposal to minimize the consequences when it does.

Filled with personal anecdotes and real-life examples from natural disasters like the California wildfires to man-made ones like the Boeing 737 MAX crisis, The Devil Never Sleeps is a guide for governments, businesses, and individuals alike on how to alter our thinking so that we can develop effective strategies in the face of perpetual catastrophe.

Praise for The Devil Never Sleeps

“Kayyem combines real-world national security experience, the everyday personal experiences of an individual, and the genius of a policy thinker for her compelling and engaging new book. Virtually anything Kayyem writes is a must-read and she has put it all together to help us prepare for our era of disasters.” —Jeh Johnson, former secretary of homeland security

“From 9/11 through the pandemic, the United States has been battered by several decades of emergencies. Even more, and worse, are ahead. Juliette Kayyem has a clear-eyed, sane, urgent-but-not-frantic set of principles to guide us in dealing with ‘the devil.’ We’ll all be better off for following her advice.” —James Fallows, National Book Award winner

“Juliette Kayyem is who we call when disaster strikes for a reason: she’s calm, unafraid, and deeply informed. Here she leaves no disaster unturned as she shows how we can be ready to respond. She’ll open your eyes: you’ll definitely never think of Fukushima, fires, or even Beyoncé the same way again.” —Erin Burnett, CNN anchor