I am not sure as to whether this book should be called a travel book or a treatise on global economies or simply a light read for the coffee table. Call it what you may, but don;t even miss it. This book opens the reader to a world of adventure, capitalist thoughts, philosophy, astute financial thinking.This is a narration of how Jim Rogers and his wife Paige, drive around the world in a upgraded Merc from January 1999 through December2001. They drove through 116 countries so that Rogers, an investment analyst, could understand their economies and investment potential, particularly in lesser known geographies from tiny central asian republics(actually breakaways from the erstwhile USSR) to investment havens like china and other parts of Asia.
I liked this book mainly because Jim Rogers gives a direct from the ground account of the reality and economic health(developed world media often misses even a mention of these countries), This book has nothing emotional as one would expect except for a few references to his own marriage and occasionally describing Paige’s moods, likes and dislikes, experiences at restaurants and the likes. Also, even though Rogers shares investment advice and observations about the economies, I am not sure how much of it is biblical in terms of authority for those seeking to follow . The result is that the book is more of a narration of an adventure and that’s what I liked about it. Atleast no complex theories and jargon found in a finance book. Jim Rogers speaks a lot about immigration, crossing borders, culture, food etc which is what makes this book a must read and I would recommend this more as the next book for atlas gazers. The pictures from this trip can be seen at https://jimrogers.com