As spectacular and moving as Bar-Am's photos are, Thomas L. Friedman's compelling essay provides an anchor in the form of an eloquent reflection on the unfolding of the first fifty years. Israel's contributions to politics and culture, to religion and commerce, have made a tremendous mark on the world, and these issues Friedman addresses with the perception of an outsider who has spent almost a quarter of his life in the area. While Bar-Am's photos show us the events that have shaped Israel's path, Friedman's essay explores the implications of Israel's first fifty years and the nation's powerful struggle between its past and its future.
Thomas L. Friedman Books
Thomas L. Friedman is an acclaimed author and journalist whose work delves into international affairs. He grounds his insights in extensive reporting, aiming to make the complex global landscape accessible to readers. Friedman has broadened the definition of foreign affairs to encompass the impacts of finance, globalization, and technology. His writing explores the interplay between enduring forces like nationalism and culture, and the transformative effects of the internet and global markets.







That used to be US : what went wrong with America - and how it can come back
- 400 pages
- 14 hours of reading
America has a huge problem. It faces four major challenges, on which its future depends, and it is failing to meet them. In What's Wrong with America?, Thomas L. Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum analyze those challenges - globalization, the revolution in information technology, the nation's chronic deficits, and its pattern of energy consumption - and spell out what needs to be done now to rediscover America's power and prowess. They explain how the end of the cold war blinded the nation to the need to address these issues seriously. They show how America's history, when properly understood, provides the key to coping successfully and explain how the paralysis of the US political system and the erosion of key American values have made it impossible to carry out the policies the country needs. What's Wrong with America? is both a searching exploration of the American condition today and a rousing manifesto for American renewal.
This extraordinary bestseller is still the most incisive, thought-provoking book ever written about the Middle East. Thomas L. Friedman, twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting, and now the Foreign Affairs columnist on the op-ed page of the New York Times, drew on his ten years in the Middle East to write a book that The Wall Street Journal called "a sparkling intellectual guidebook... an engrossing journey not to be missed." Now with a new chapter that brings the ever-changing history of the conflict in the Middle East up to date, this seminal historical work reaffirms both its timeliness and its timelessness. "If you're only going to read one book on the Middle East, this is it." -- Seymour Hersh
We all sense it - our lives are speeding up at a dizzying rate. Thank You for Being Lateexposes the tectonic movements that are reshaping the world today and explains how to get the most out of them. Friedman's thesis is that the planet's three largest forces - Moore's law (technology), the market (globalization) and Mother Nature (climate change and biodiversity loss) - are all accelerating at once. An extraordinary release of energy is reshaping everything from how we hail a taxi to the fate of nations to our most intimate relationships. Thank You for Being Late is a work of contemporary history that serves as a field manual for how to think about this era of accelerations and how we can anchor ourselves in the eye of this storm. It's also an argument for 'being late' - for pausing to appreciate this amazing historical epoch we're passing through and reflecting on its possibilities and dangers. Written with his trademark vitality, wit, and optimism, and with unequalled access to many of those at the forefront of the changes he is describing all over the world, Thank You for Being Late is Friedman's most ambitious book - and an essential guide to the present and the future.
That Used to Be Us
- 402 pages
- 15 hours of reading
Friedman, an influential columnist, and Mandelbaum, a leading foreign policy thinker, analyze four American challenges--globalization, information technology, chronic deficits, and energy consumption--and show what America needs to do.
Hot, Flat, and Crowded
Why the world needs a green revolution-and how we can renew our global future
- 438 pages
- 16 hours of reading
Friedman proposes that an ambitious national strategy, which he calls 'Code-Green', is not only what we need to save the planet from overheating - it is what we need to make us all healthier, richer, more innovative, more productive, and more secure.
The world is flat
- 593 pages
- 21 hours of reading
The beginning of the twenty-first century will be remembered, Friedman argues, not for military conflicts or political events, but for a whole new age of globalization - a flattening' of the world. The explosion of advanced technologies now means that suddenly knowledge pools and resources have connected all over the planet, levelling the playing field as never before, so that each of us is potentially an equal and competitor of the other. The rules of the game have changed forever but does this death of distance', which requires us all to run faster in order to stay in the same place, mean the world has got too small and too flat too fast for us to adjust? Friedman brilliantly demystifies the exciting, often bewildering, global scene unfolding before our eyes, one which we sense but barely yet understand. The World is Flat is the most timely and essential update on globalization, its successes and its discontents, powerfully illuminated by a world-class writer.
Longitudes and attitudes : the world in the age of terrorism
- 416 pages
- 15 hours of reading
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times columnist and bestselling author of From Beirut to Jerusalem and The Lexus and the Olive Tree comes this smart, penetrating, brilliantly informed book that is indispensable for understanding today’s radically new world and America’s complex place in it. Thomas L. Freidman received his third Pulitzer Prize in 2002 “for his clarity of vision, based on extensive reporting, in commenting on the worldwide impact of the terrorist threat.” In Longitudes and Attitudes he gives us all of the columns he has published about the most momentous news story of our time, as well as a diary of his private experiences and reflections during his post–September 11 travels. Updated for this new paperback edition, with over two years’ worth of Friedman’s columns and an expanded version of his diary, Longitudes and Attitudes is a broadly influential work from our most trusted observer of the international scene.
From a perceptive commentator and National Book Award winner, this comprehensive examination delves into the world of globalization, the driving force behind contemporary global affairs. As the Foreign Affairs columnist for The New York Times, Thomas L. Friedman has traveled extensively, engaging with diverse individuals—from Brazilian peasants to Islamic students and Wall Street financiers. He presents globalization as more than a fleeting trend; it represents a new international system that supersedes the Cold War paradigm. This interconnected framework integrates capital, technology, and information across borders, fostering a single global market and a sense of a global village. Understanding this system is crucial for interpreting current events and personal investments. For instance, while the Cold War symbolized division through the hot line between superpowers, globalization connects us through the Internet, highlighting a shared yet leaderless world. Through vivid narratives and original concepts, Friedman elucidates this new order, exploring the conflict between modern globalization and enduring cultural traditions. He also addresses the backlash faced by those feeling marginalized by globalization, emphasizing the need for balance between progress and heritage. This exploration of the tension between the Lexus and the olive tree encapsulates the challenges of the globalization era, making it essential reading for an
Longitudes and Attitudes
- 416 pages
- 15 hours of reading
This title brings together reportage and reflections on the state of the world leading up to and after September 11, 2001. Thomas Friedman gives voice to our awakening sense of a radically new world and our own complex place in it.



