This book presents several perspectives on the COVID-19 crisis as it impacted the United States, focusing on policies, practices, and patterns. It considers the relationship between government policies and neo-liberalism, (anti)federalism, economies of scale, and material culture.

The COVID-19 crisis became the primary current event in the United States in March 2020 and continued for several years. In the early days of the crisis, the United States lacked a cohesive, comprehensive approach to combating its spread. As a result, the pandemic was experienced differently in different parts of the United States and at different scales. The chapters in this volume include both quantitative and qualitative explorations of the pandemic as it occurred in the United States. Collectively, they help the reader to better understand this geographically salient issue and provide lessons to learn from so as to improve upon responses to crises in the future.

This book will be of interest to students and researchers of Geography, Sociology, Political Science, and Economics with an interest in United States and the socio-political effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Geographical Review.

Sara Beth Keough is Professor of Geography at Saginaw Valley State University, USA. Her research focuses on material cultures of water, and resource-dependency. She is a Fulbright Scholar, the author of Water, Life, and Profit: Fluid Economies and Cultures in Niamey, Niger (2019), and Editor of the journal Material Culture.

David H. Kaplan is Professor of Geography at Kent State University, USA. His research focuses on nationalism, ethnic segregation, housing, and transportation planning. He is the editor of the Geographical Review and has published 14 books and over 65 articles and book chapters.