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THE ECONOMIST 'The world did need another book about globalisation; OPEN WORLD is it' FINANCIAL TIMES 'At last a good book on globalisation ... lucid and persuasive' SUNDAY TIMES '[Legrain] engages with the big issues much more convincingly than Klein' NEW STATESMAN 'If you have been convinced by Naomi Klein or Noreena Hertz, you owe it to yourself to hear Legrain's persuasive defence' INDEPENDENT 'a rapid rebuttal of the flimsy critique of anti- globalisation activists'

The world did need another book about globalisation; OPEN WORLD is it ECONOMIST At last a good book on globalisation ... lucid and persuasive FINANCIAL TIMES [Legrain] engages with the big issues much more convincingly than Klein SUNDAY TIMES If you have been convinced by Naomi Klein or Noreena Hertz, you owe it to yourself to hear Legrain's persuasive defence NEW STATESMAN

Every year, the travelling circus of anti-globalisation protest moves to more cities, the scenes as familiar to us through our television screens as the weather forecast: people of all nationalities gathering to express their concerns about the way big business is increasingly taking over their lives. The pictures could be coming from anywhere - Genoa, London, Seattle - yet the message is the same. Gradually, the subtext filters through to our daily lives that the seemingly unstoppable force that is globalisation is something sinister, a movement run by faceless men and women who dictate that shoes will be made in Vietnam, corn grown in the USA, and that local cultures will disappear, subsumed into NikeWorld and McDonald's golden arches. Should we believe the protesters? Or can globalisation be a force for good? Philippe Legrain sets out his stall at the beginning of the book with the revelation that he was previously special adviser to the director-general of the World Trade Organisation. Yet his previous experience as a journalist writing for publications such as The Economist, The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times means that he is able to take a slightly less partisan view than one might expect. Legrain is able to present his arguments in surprising ways. Given the traditional association between globalisation and unfettered industrialisation at any cost to the environment, it is interesting to read that 'there may be a strong case for slapping trade sanctions on the US... [if they fail to listen to pressure from other countries to ratify Kyoto].' Legrain also points out that many advocates of globalisation are as horrified by the failure of the drugs companies to allow cheap, non-patent drugs to be supplied to developing countries as those who gather on the anti-globalisation demonstrations. His description of a visit to two shoe factories in Vietnam, one owned by a multinational, the other by a local business, also made salutary reading. This is an essential read for anyone on either side of one of the most pressing debates of our time. (Kirkus UK)

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He studied econonmics & international politics at LSE and until recently he was special adviser to the D.G. of the WTO. He has also been trade & economics correspondent for THE ECONOMIST & written for the FT, Guardian, New Statesman, Prospect, Foreign Policy & Ecologist

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