mike

Never read the book, though due to the audio issues it may have been a bettter choice.

I thought the book was very funny in parts and that no one else except William Shatner could have read it. My only criticism (though it is a big one) was the extreme volume fluctuations. While knowing that some of it is due to Shatner's delivery from "normal volume" speaking down to below a whisper, it was very difficult to listen to without having to constantly turn the volume up and down. Just when you thought you had reached a balance, it would go really loud or almost silent again. The content of the book was good and as this was my first book from William Shatner I was pleased with all the meandering and side stories, etc that he would inject, I just wish it could have been a better audio experience.

No

Again the audio production made it very difficult to enjoy as much as it could have been.

I would recommend this book with a couple reservations. It is obvious that 95% or more of this v 2.0 is the same as the original. I would 2nd a review I read before I purchased this book, for the 'new' parts you can tell an audible difference in volume level for those parts, though it is not significant. What I had the most 'issue' with is the fact that almost every study, interview, poll or report that is referenced in the book is 2007 or earlier. This would make sense in a book that was published in 2008, as this originally was. However there are very few instances of updated or current information. Given the subject matter and the theories that the author presents, the updated information would only go to substantiate or validate his points further so I am not sure why they were not included or updated, perhaps it was too time consuming?

Overall this was a good listen as the facts are presented fairly unbiased, which is rare these days. Fareed does a great job of showing the paths from the history of the US from early 20th century through the globalization of the world and how the US can and should navigate through the modern maze of geopolitics. The 'Rise of the Rest' could easily become a (stealing a Tom Clancy book Title) 'Clear and Present Danger' to the United Stes, however as the author shows, it will be much more likely it is an economic danger as opposed to military.

The world is flat
Hot, Flat, Crowded

Common themes of Globalization and the disruptive nature of the internet and other technologes on the world stage

More interesting than one might think. This is not a totally dry economics book that makes you recall college macro and micro economics courses, but rather real world examples of how the world is changing in an unprecedented way and at an unprecedented speed.