Like many bureaucrats across India, Tarun Pithode, a senior officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), had his hands full as the Covid pandemic ravaged the country. In The Battle against Covid, Pithode recounts his experiences and struggles, and those of his colleagues in different states, while managing the crisis especially during the first and second waves. He outlines the strategies employed by various authorities to understand the virus and contain its spread.

He also details the travails of the migrant workers, as millions of them covered thousands of kilometres on foot to make their way back home, fleeing cities that suddenly had no place for them. But there are stories of heroism too, of doctors, police officers, administrators and civilians putting their lives on the line to save fellow citizens.

Through all this, Pithode shares with us the profound lessons he learnt as an administrator and as an individual. Taking us behind the scenes, The Battle against Covid is an invaluable record of how our bureaucracy stepped up to manage a crisis that affected almost every aspect of our lives.