The masters of business writing are not generally touched by the poet’s sensibility. It is hardly surprising that delicate souls adopt a pained expression when confronted with the serried ranks of macho titles like Revival of the Fittest or Getting to Yes. Frankly, the heart scarcely leaps at a book that puts ‘The Globalized World’ in the subtitle to The World is Flat.

This is all very unfortunate because The World is Flat’s author, Thomas Friedman, although not the most subtle of literary stylists, is one of a small number of communicators who writes intelligibly about trends in international economics and the effect they have on all of us. A well-travelled American who has thrice won a Pulitzer Prize, he also happens to make a lot more sense than those modish admirers of coffee-picking collectives who affect to disdain the realm of corporate priorities and shareholder values.

Blackwell Bookshop

Purchase your copy here, 10% off RRP