The beginning of the twenty-first century will be remembered, Friedman argues, not for military conflicts or political events, but for a whole new age of globalization a flattening' of the world. The explosion of advanced technologies now means that suddenly knowledge pools and resources have connected all over the planet, leveling the playing field as never before, so that each of us is potentially an equal and competitor of the other.

The rules of the game have changed forever but does this death of distance', which requires us all to run faster in order to stay in the same place, mean the world has got too small and too flat too fast for us to adjust! Friedman brilliantly demystifies the exciting, often bewildering, global scene unfolding before our eyes, one which we sense but barely yet understand.

"The World is Flat" is the most timely and essential update on globalization, its successes and its discontents, powerfully illuminated by a world-class writer.