Hot, Flat, and Crowded 2.0 (Expanded / Updated) (Paperback) by Thomas L. Friedman

About the Book

Book Synopsis

A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year
A Washington Post Best Book of the Year
A Businessweek Best Business Book of the Year
A Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year

In this brilliant, essential book, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Thomas L. Friedman speaks to America's urgent need for national renewal and explains how a green revolution can bring about both a sustainable environment and a sustainable America.

Friedman explains how global warming, rapidly growing populations, and the expansion of the world's middle class through globalization have produced a dangerously unstable planet--one that is hot, flat, and crowded. In this Release 2.0 edition, he also shows how the very habits that led us to ravage the natural world led to the meltdown of the financial markets and the Great Recession. The challenge of a sustainable way of life presents the United States with an opportunity not only to rebuild its economy, but to lead the world in radically innovating toward cleaner energy. And it could inspire Americans to something we haven't seen in a long time--nation-building in America--by summoning the intelligence, creativity, and concern for the common good that are our greatest national resources.

Hot, Flat, and Crowded is classic Thomas L. Friedman: fearless, incisive, forward-looking, and rich in surprising common sense about the challenge--and the promise--of the future.

Review Quotes

"Friedman produces cogent analyses of the most important developments of our time. . . . A convincing case for the green revolution required to rescue us from an unsustainable course." --USA Today

"Friedman has made himself a major interpreter of the confusing world we inhabit. . . . He gets the big issues right." --The Washington Post Book World

"A compelling manifesto that deserves a wide reading, especially by members of Congress." --The Boston Globe

"If Friedman's profile and verve take his message where it needs to be heard, into the boardrooms of America and beyond, that can only be good--for all our sakes." --The New York Times Book Review

"Tom Friedman has done it again. . . . He has lit upon what he might describe as another Big Idea, and, given his track record as a zeitgeist thermometer, we should all pay attention. . . . He has a gift for weaving anecdotes and examples from around the world into his broader tapestry." --Financial Times

"Hot, Flat, and Crowded may make it official, for many, that ecology-mindedness is the character of our times. . . . I hope everyone reads it." --The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Required reading" --Business Week

"New York Times columnist and globalization exponent Thomas Friedman pleads for Americans to wake up to the perils and opportunities of an emerging resource-strapped world. The author comes across as a blend of Will Rogers, Jack Welch and Norman Vincent Peale--a plain-spoken citizen outraged at the bullheadedness of U.S. politicians, yet optimistic about the power of ingenuity and finely crafted policy to avert disaster." --Newsweek

About The Author

THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize three times for his work with The New York Times, where he serves as the foreign affairs columnist. He is the author of From Beirut to Jerusalem (1989), The Lexus and the Olive Tree (1999), Longitudes and Attitudes (2002), and The World is Flat (2005). He lives in Bethesda, Maryland.