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Did you know that, at night, the air traffic to and from Berlin airport is controlled from California, to avoid paying anyone overtime? This is just one surprising example of Globalisation whose validity Baricco confirms to see whether it's a reality, rather than just a concept.The book starts out by questioning whether Globalisation really exists. He asks a variety of friends and acquaintances if they can give him examples of it in action. Many of the examples are mythical (Tibetan monks on the internet), repeated erroneously and eventually accepted as fact. Baricco checks them out, one by one, and comes to the conclusion that globalisation is something that certain people in the world WANT, but that we are still a long way off realising it. He likens it to the exploration of America two centuries ago. To begin with, the 'wild west' was as much a myth as a reality, but in order for the desire for it to be realised, bankers had to be convinced that it was worth their while investing in the railroad in order to make it happen. Globalisation is a concept which gradually is becoming reality through a mixture of desire and investment. A self-fulfilling vision. The key issue is that we can all contribute to the nature of that vision.In a gently humorous way, starting from his reaction to watching the riots in Genova on TV, rather than being there in person, Baricco questions one by one the assumptions surrounding globalisation. Rather than joining the objectors, he embraces certain aspects of globalisation which he feels can lead to a better world. The purpose of the book is to demonstrate that we are not victims of globalisation but can influence, through our choices and behaviour, the way our civilisation evolves towards it, avoiding the pitfalls and benefitting from the advantages.The book is based on a series of articles for an Italian newspaper. Baricco's trepidation, as a writer of novels, at straying into the realm of global politics and economics, was confirmed when the articles received unprecedented criticism. For this reason he was persuaded to give the ideas more permanent form, providing an accessible introduction to reasoned debate on this most ubiquitous and misunderstood topic. The book concludes with a glossary of key topics relating to globalisation. It exists in an excellent French translation (Albin Michel; ISBN : 2226133151) which is the one that I read.