Three top Washington thinkers have new books, all much more readable than their physical weight and subject matter suggest. Daniel Yergin engagingly weaves together the economy and the war on terror in a way few historians have done. Thomas L. Friedman, with Michael Mandelbaum, argues that the US is failing to confront the challenges of globalization. Christopher Hitchens returns with about 100 of his best recent essays. Here’s a comparison of these intellectual heavyweights.
Daniel Yergin, The Quest
Thomas L. Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum, That Used to Be Us
Christopher Hitchens, Arguably
Advantage
Book’s Subtitle
Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World
How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back
Essays
Yergin
Number of Pulitzer Prizes
One
Three (all Friedman’s)
None
Friedman and Mandelbaum
Academic Credentials
Yale and Cambridge University
Friedman: Brandeis and Oxford; Mandelbaum: Yale, Harvard, and Cambridge
Oxford
Friedman and Mandelbaum
Number of Pages
816
400
816
Yergin and Hitchens (tie)
Weight
2.9 pounds
1.3 pounds
2.5 pounds
Yergin
Number of Cover Blurbs
Seven
None
Six
Yergin
Sample Review
“This masterful and illuminating book on one of the most vital issues of our time…should be essential reading for policymakers everywhere.” —Henry Kissinger
“Friedman and Mandelbaum are men of the American elite, and they write to salute those members of the American elite who behave public-spiritedly and to scourge those who do not.” —David Frum
“If Hitchens didn’t exist, we wouldn’t be able to invent him.” —Ian McEwan “Hitchens is the greatest living essayist in the English language.” —Christopher Buckley
Hitchens
Book’s Epigraph
None
“It makes no sense for China to have better rail systems than us, and Singapore having better airports than us. And we just learned that China now has the fastest supercomputer on Earth—that used to be us.” —Barack Obama
“Live all you can: It’s a mistake not to.” —Lambert Strether in Henry James’s The Ambassadors
Tom Friedman, You’re a Lightweight!
Three top Washington thinkers have new books, all much more readable than their physical weight and subject matter suggest. Daniel Yergin engagingly weaves together the economy and the war on terror in a way few historians have done. Thomas L. Friedman, with Michael Mandelbaum, argues that the US is failing to confront the challenges of globalization. Christopher Hitchens returns with about 100 of his best recent essays. Here’s a comparison of these intellectual heavyweights.
Editors' Picks
Is DC Being Too Mean to Louise Linton?
Which Washington-Area Neighborhoods Will Boom Next?
Why This Is the Golden Age of DC Grocery Shopping
The Ultimate Guide to DC’s Cherry Blossoms
Most Popular
The 100 Very Best Restaurants in Washington
How I Got This Body: She Went from 160 Pounds to 143 in Just Five Months by Doing Crossfit, Two-a-Days, and Splurging on Pizza
Things to Do in DC This Weekend (April 19-22): Record Store Day, Filmfest DC, and the National Cannabis Festival
Which Washington-Area Neighborhoods Will Boom Next?
May 2018: Jeff Bezos in D.C.
Subscribe
Related Posts
There Are Still Six Confederate Memorials Around DC. How’s That Possible?
“Investment Layoff” Is a Masterpiece of Corporate Euphemism
Secret Service: Man Claimed to Be Jesus and Plotted to Kidnap One of the Obamas’ Dogs
The New York Times Thinks Its Readers Should Visit CityCenterDC. We Agree!
More from News
What You Can and Can’t Bring onto the Floor in Congress
Are Those Electric Scooters Actually Allowed on the Sidewalk? Here Are the Rules
Scott Pruitt Is the Most Baller Trump Appointee
Farewell to The Hill’s Gloriously Ridiculous “50 Most Beautiful” List