The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century is a best-selling book by Thomas L. Friedman analyzing the progress of globalization with an emphasis on the early 21st century. Friedman derives his title from the expression "a flat playing field," denoting a competitive environment where both teams compete on equal terms (e.g., on an uneven playing field, one team would have the difficult task of running uphill while the other would have the easier task of running downhill). The book was first released in 2005, was later released as an "updated and expanded" edition in 2006, and yet again released with additional updates in 2007 as "further updated and expanded: Release 3.0." You can find this book at Barnes and Noble, Amazon and any number of used book stores.
