Books

When she finally came to write her story, she would wonder exactly when the books and the words started to mean not just something but everything.

The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman

The World is Flat is Thomas L. Friedman's account of the great changes taking place in our time, as lightening-swift advances in technology and communication put people all over the globe in touch as never before -- creating an explosion of wealth in India and China, and challenging the rest of us to run even faster just to stay in place. This updated and expanded edition features more than a hundred pages of fresh reporting and commentary, drawn from Friedman's travels around the world and across the American heartland -- from anyplace where the flattening of the world is being felt.

In The World is Flat, Friedman at once shows "how and why globalization has now shifted into warp drive" (Robert Wright, Slate) and brilliantly demystifies the new flat world for readers, allowing them to make sense of the often bewildering scene unfolding before their eyes. With his inimitable ability to translate complex foreign policy and economic issues, he 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; how governments and societies can, and must, adapt; and why terrorists want to stand in the way. More than ever, The World is Flat is an essential update on globalization, its successes and discontents, powerfully illuminated by one of our most respected journalists.

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The Man Booker Prize for Fiction represents the very best in contemporary fiction (from the UK, Ireland, and the Commonwealth). One of the world’s most prestigious awards, and one of incomparable influence, it continues to be the pinnacle of ambition for every fiction writer. It has the power to transform the fortunes of authors, and even publishers. In 2004, not only did Alan Hollinghurst’s The Line of Beauty reach the bestseller lists, but previous winners The Life of Pi (2002) and Vernon God Little (2003) were also amongst the bestselling books of the year. Congratulations to last year's winner John Banville for his novel The Sea.

The winner receives £50,000 with a guaranteed increase in sales and recognition worldwide.

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

I suppose I wanted to say goodbye to someone, and have someone say goodbye to me. The goodbyes we speak and the goodbyes we hear are the goodbyes that tell us we're still alive, after all.