10 Years That Shook the World

March 15, 2012

Napoleoni (Rogue Economics: Capitalism's New Reality) covers the people, events, and other factors--such as the growth of social media, developments in science and technology, new economic policies, and environmental concerns--that have shaped the past decade, aiming primarily, as she states in the preface, "to show how the decade that began in 2001 has profoundly changed the world, setting in motion what Steve Jobs called 'digital lifestyle.'" Organized by year and spanning the September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda attacks on the United States to the tsunami that devastated the Japanese island of Honshu in 2011, the entries each open with a summary of the year's key happenings and then list events according to global importance, not necessarily in rigid chronological order. Each year's "At a Glance" section offers useful data including world GDP, federal debt, unemployment figures, food price index, and oil price per barrel. An extensive bibliography concludes the book. VERDICT This fresh look at a tumultuos period in American history is a worthwhile purchase for high school, public, and academic libraries.--Bobbie Wrinkle, McCracken Cty. P.L., Paducah, KY

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