Rivals

Emmott's overview of the future of Asia reads like a long article from THE ECONOMIST, of which Emmott was the editor for many years. It intersperses revealing stories of Chinese, Japanese, and Indian culture with barrages of financial figures and quantitative analysis. The stories work better for the casual listener than does the quantitative analysis, but, in sum, the account is quite engaging. Bill Wallace has a deep, clear voice and well-measured cadence. The choice of an American to read the work of the cosmopolitan, but essentially Oxonian, Emmott is unexpected but does not detract from the work as a whole. F.C. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine