The Bottom Billion

Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It

| 4.19 | 7,114 ratings and reviews

Recommended by Bill Gates, Nicholas Kristof, and 2 others. See all reviews

Ranked #6 in Development Economics, Ranked #20 in Tribal — see more rankings.

In the universally acclaimed and award-winning The Bottom Billion, Paul Collier reveals that fifty failed states--home to the poorest one billion people on Earth--pose the central challenge of the developing world in the twenty-first century. The book shines much-needed light on this group of small nations, largely unnoticed by the industrialized West, that are dropping further and further behind the majority of the world's people, often falling into an absolute decline in living standards. A struggle rages within each of these nations between reformers and corrupt leaders--and the... more
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Reviews and Recommendations

We've comprehensively compiled reviews of The Bottom Billion from the world's leading experts.

Bill Gates CEO/MicrosoftOn the short list of books that I recommend to people. (Source)

Nicholas Kristof There’s been a tendency for people looking at global poverty to either emphasise the extraordinary difficulty in making a difference or to make it seem almost too easy. What I really liked about The Bottom Billion is that he acknowledges how difficult it can be to end poverty, but also offers some important ideas about how one can actually make a difference. (Source)

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