The World Is Flat: Summary and book reviews of The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman, plus links to an excerpt from The World Is Flat and a biography of Thomas Friedman.
The World Is Flat A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
by Thomas Friedman
Hardcover: Apr 2005,
496 pages.
Paperback: Jul 2007,
640 pages.
When scholars write the history of the world twenty years from now, and they come to the chapter "Y2K to March 2004," what will they say was the most crucial development? The attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11 and the Iraq war? Or the convergence of technology and events that allowed India, China, and so many other countries to become part of the global supply chain for services and manufacturing, creating an explosion of wealth in the middle classes of the world's two biggest nations, giving them a huge new stake in the success of globalization? And with this "flattening" of the globe, which requires us to run faster in order to stay in place, has the world gotten too small and too fast for human beings and their political systems to adjust in a stable manner?
In this brilliant new book, the award-winning New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman demystifies the brave new world for readers, allowing them to make sense of the often bewildering global scene unfolding before their eyes. With his inimitable ability to translate complex foreign policy and economic issues, Friedman explains how the flattening of the world happened at the dawn of the twenty-first century; what it means to countries, companies, communities, and individuals; and how governments and societies can, and must, adapt. The World Is Flat is the timely and essential update on globalization, its successes and discontents, powerfully illuminated by one of our most respected journalists.
An expanded and revised version was published in hardcover in April 2006.
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
....This is all familiar stuff by now, but the last 100 pages on the economic and political roots of global Islamism are filled with the kind of close reporting and intimate yet accessible analysis that have been hard to come by.
Kirkus Reviews
Those who look forward to a planet of Wal-Marts and Dells will be charmed. Those who don't-well, welcome to the flat world.
Warren Bass - The Washington Post
This book showcases Friedman's gift for lucid dissections of abstruse economic phenomena, his teacher's head, his preacher's heart, his genius for trend-spotting and his sometimes maddening inability to take himself out of the frame.
The Economist
Mr Friedman's book is subtitled "A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century", but it is not brief, it is not any recognisable form of history--except perhaps of Mr Friedman's own wanderings around the world--and the reference to our new, baby century is just gratuitous. Even according to Mr Friedman's own account, the world has been globalising since 1492.....Rarely has so much information been collected to so little effect.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Tapsearch Com Editor Friedman's Flat World is a mirage and history will confirm this Thomas Friedman is an evangelist for Free Traders and Globalization. You do not need any conspiracy theories to know this thing called Free Trade is not trade at all and Globlization has been driven by elite groupings outside of any real democratic... Read More
War, natural disaster, reckless gods and the recognition of impermanence in the world are just some of the threads that AS Byatt weaves into this most timely of books. Linguistically stunning and imaginatively abundant, this is a landmark.
A beguiling, imaginative, inspiring story about the bigness of being alive as an individual, as a member of a tribe, and as a participant in history, exploring how we use storytelling to survive and shape our own truths.
Brilliantly evoking the long-vanished world of masters and servants, Margaret Powell's classic memoir of her time in service is the remarkable true story of an indomitable woman who, though she served in the great houses of England, never stopped aiming high.
Vivid, daring, and unforgettable, The Printmaker's Daughter shines fresh light on art, loyalty, and the tender and indelible bond between a father and daughter.
I read The Healing in two sittings it is a fascinating story of plantation life at the beginning of the Civil War. Granada, a slave newborn child...
read more
The Uncommon Reader is a novella by novelist and playwright, Alan Bennett. The story starts with the Queen coming across the mobile library van...
read more
Amazon to open bricks and mortar store in Seattle(Feb 07 2012) Last week, the word in the blogosphere was that Amazon was considering opening a bricks-and-mortar store. Over the weekend goodereader.com added substance to...
Full Story
Arizona bills Amazon for $53 million in uncollected sales tax(Feb 06 2012) The ongoing sales tax battle between many US states and large online retailers, most notably Amazon, continues with a thrust from Arizona which, last week,...
Full Story
(536 words).
The Economist
of 5
by Tapsearch Com Editor
RSS feed
