Amazon.com description: Product Description: The third edition of this text builds the story of each region using contemporary concerns and historical themes to create a complete picture of our ever-changing planet and its people. The authors help students understand what aspects of a place give it identity and personality by detailing what features make it newsworthy now and what features might make it critical in the 21st century. This book pays strong attention to the phenomenon of globalization. This perspective has been prompted by the almost world-wide financial crisis that began in Southeast Asia in 1997, swept much of Asia in the following year, and then rocked Russia in 1998 and Brazil in 1999.