A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
A Los Angeles Times Best Book of 2011
In That Used to Be Us, Thomas L. Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum
analyze the four major challenges we face as a country---globalization,
the revolution in information technology, chronic deficits, and our
pattern of energy consumption---and spell out what we need to do now to
preserve American power in the world. The end of the Cold War blinded
the nation to the need to address these issues seriously, and China's
educational successes, industrial might, and technological prowess in
many ways remind us of a time when that used to be us. But Friedman and
Mandelbaum show how America's history, when properly understood, offers
a five-part formula for prosperity that will enable us to cope
successfully with the challenges we face. That Used to Be Us is both a
searching exploration of the American condition today and a rousing
manifesto for American renewal.