The subtitle of this book, "How Traders, Preachers, Adventurers and Warriors shaped Globalization" explains very well what is it all about: a historical recounting of the processes throughout history that have shaped our societies to reach the level of interconnectedness where we currently are.  As such, it is a great description, but the casual reader will not find recipes for solving the world's ills here.

Nevertheless, it is a very well written, enthralling book.  If you want to have an idea about how we got where we are since the appearance of the modern Homo sapiens in Africa eons ago and what are the current challenges facing our world, grab this tome.  Its examples and anecdotes give colour to the epic tale of the human race, and its last three chapters explain how much of a crossroads are we actually at.  As he says, calls to shut down globalization are pointless because there's no one in charge, but we have the power and the responsibility to steer our world in the right direction.

This pale blue dot is the only home we have.  We better learn to live together.