The beginning of the book gives stories of different people around the world and explains how these people are affected by their existence in a "global village". These examples are given for two reasons. The first is to show how the entire world is connected and the second is to show the disparity between different parts of the "village". Early on we are challenged to question the things we take for granted or assume to be a part of everyday life. Bradshaw and Wallace take the idea of an unequal world even further when they begin to give statistical data that roves their point. One example of this is the rate of children dying before the age of five per 1000 births as of 1992. In poor countries the rate is 156.66, in middle-income countries it is 47.03, and in rich countries it falls to 9.41. They also explore the correlation between freedom/democracy and wealth. Global trends are discussed as a way of predicting the future and understanding the contemporary world. One of these trends is the increasing number of formal political structures becoming fragmented. Reasons for this include economic differences, ethnic diversity, and terrorism. The book then gives two competing theories that explain the history and future of global inequality. The first theory is the Modernization Theory. This theory suggests that the victims are to blame for their own problems. Their lack of a "modern" society (including economy, culture, and institutions) is said to cause their underdevelopment. Part of this argument emphasizes underdeveloped countries' lack of Western values and their inability or unwillingness to adapt to today's world. There are two criticisms to this theory. The first criticism is that we tend to think that the West is the best and others should conform to how we do things. The second is that the Modernization Theory may greatly overestimate the capacity of poor countries to develop. The vast...