The book was published in 2008 and explores the various ways in which the human race could be rendered extinct by astronomical phenomena.

The author stated during an interview that one of the reasons for writing the book was that "the Universe is incredibly inhospitable, yet we have this planet that's doing OK by us.

[2] The book has had positive reviews from Todd Dailey of Wired Magazine,[8] Nancy Atkinson of Universe Today,[9] and Rebecca Watson from Skepchick.

[11] In 2010 the Discovery Channel had a documentary called Phil Plait's Bad Universe.

[12] George Hrab and Phil Plait recorded a song called "Death from the Skies" with lyrics based on some of the events covered in the book.