"A magnificent achievement! A richly detailed yet highly accessible text for courses on globalization and development. The second edition brings the insights and voices of diverse analysts to bear on the inequalities that characterize the contemporary world, clearly laying out how approaches such as postcolonialism and political economy can help us understand global differences. The authors are to be congratulated for crafting a text that does not shy away from the immense complexities of the natural and social world, but presents them in ways that invite reflection. The examples, case studies, and striking graphics and photographs will help students connect global patterns and processes with local lives, including their own."--Susan M. Roberts, Department of Geography, University of Kentucky"The first edition ofA World of Differencewas a uniquely valuable volume that used the leitmotif of difference to present a comprehensive picture of the world's physical and social systems. In the second edition, this approach is given an added dimension by pairing the focus on difference with a focus on knowledge. The authors artfully weave these two themes together, providing readers with a profound understanding of the world in which they live."--Philip E. Steinberg, Department of Geography, Florida State University "A textbook of impressive scope. The authors bring to the fore the perspectives of those inhabiting subject positions, spaces, and scales that have historically been excluded. Richly illustrated, the book introduces students to the complexity of our world and examines the multiple, intersecting forces that shape lives, livelihoods and possibilities for change. Ultimately, the text offers a hopeful analysis that takes careful account of how globalization and resistance are always worked out in specific contexts, rather than being dictated from on high."--Victoria A. Lawson, Department of Geography, University of Washington "This book is an invaluable