Shirky's accessible and clear writing will help connect China's technology world to a Western audience. The story of Xiaomi through Western eyes, like that told in Porter Erisman's Alibaba's World earlier this year, is one of almost unbelievable growth and acceleration. It's a natural topic to feed hungry American minds yearning to learn more about China's expanding technology footprint amidst the country's political and social policies (including filtering). Unlike Erisman, however, Shirky is an outsider to the company, and with the exception of his students raving over his Mi3 phone purchase, the voice of Chinese people is completely absent, which is unexpected for a book in a series on global perspectives. It is unclear from the writing style whether Shirky gained firsthand understanding of Xiaomi or if his knowledge comes from reading about it, as we don't have evidence of interviews with Xiaomi leadership or leaders of similar companies. There's no doubt that North American audiences will hunger for another Shirky volume and be influenced by it, but the book would gain authority and reduce the unanticipated-but-awkward "they're different from us" vibe if Shirky connected with the innovators and businesspeople behind Xiaomi instead of merely talking about them. Bottom line: if Shirky wrote about AT&T but his text included no interviews with AT&T leadership or employees, would we see his voice as authoritative? Perhaps this is an inevitable result of the novella-like series format; it's a shame, though. Review copy received from the publisher via NetGalley.com (162) ( )