--- title: Until Proven Safe: 100 Must-Read Books of 2021 description: Find out why "Until Proven Safe" by Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley is on TIME's list of the must-read books from this year. canonical: https://time.com/collections/100-must-read-books-2021/6120585/until-proven-safe/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-11-29T13:16:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-02T23:58:49.612Z og:title: 'Until Proven Safe' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2021 og:description: Here's why it made the list og:url: https://time.com/collections/100-must-read-books-2021/6120585/until-proven-safe/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf80a50f1a988cbe7/6998cd3be1ba008edc98e4bd/time-hi-res.webp?branch=production&width=640&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 'Until Proven Safe' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2021 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Until Proven Safe' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2021 twitter:description: Here's why it made the list twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf80a50f1a988cbe7/6998cd3be1ba008edc98e4bd/time-hi-res.webp?branch=production&width=640&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 29, 2021 # Until Proven Safe by Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff  We’ve all become quite familiar with the word _quarantine_ over the past two years, but journalists Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley were studying the concept long before the days of COVID-19\. In their deftly reported book, they trace the evolution of quarantine across the world, underlining the challenges of isolation and its impact on society. _Until Proven Safe:_ _The History and Future of Quarantine_ is not just a book about quarantining and its relationship to disease, but also an exploration of the intersections of biology, politics and technology. The book’s relevance in the modern moment makes it both unsettling and necessary. **Buy Now**: _Until Proven Safe_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780374126582 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3oxDy2G "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-must-read-books-2021/6120585/until-proven-safe/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-must-read-books-2021/6120585/until-proven-safe/"},"headline":"Until Proven Safe","datePublished":"2021-11-29T13:16:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:58:49.612Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-must-read-books-2021/6120585/until-proven-safe/","keywords":["Books","list","best books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf80a50f1a988cbe7/6998cd3be1ba008edc98e4bd/time-hi-res.webp?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf80a50f1a988cbe7/6998cd3be1ba008edc98e4bd/time-hi-res.webp?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-must-read-books-2021/6120585/until-proven-safe/","name":"Until Proven Safe"}}]}] ```