Preview
  • The Elephant and the Dragon

  • The Rise of India and China, and What It Means for All of Us
  • By: Robyn Meredith
  • Narrated by: Laural Merlington
  • Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (339 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Elephant and the Dragon

By: Robyn Meredith
Narrated by: Laural Merlington
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $15.47

Buy for $15.47

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

In the streets of India, camels pull carts loaded with construction materials, and monkeys race across roads, dodging cars. In China, men in Mao jackets pedal bicycles along newly built highways, past skyscrapers sprouting like bamboo. Yet exotic India is as near as the voice answering an 800 number for one dollar an hour. Communist China is as close as the nearest Wal-Mart, its shelves full of goods made in Chinese factories.

Not since the United States rose to prominence a century ago have we seen such tectonic shifts in global power; but India and China are vastly different nations, with opposing economic and political strategies - strategies we must understand in order to survive in the new global economy.

The Elephant and the Dragon explains how these two Asian nations, each with more than a billion people, have spurred a new "gold rush", and what this will mean for the rest of the world.

©2007 Robyn Meredith (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"Robyn Meredith's systematic analysis fills the gap in a spirited, readable manner." (Mike Wallace, 60 Minutes)
"An exciting and journalistic account of one of the great economic stories of our time: the transformation of China and India." (Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize winning economist)

What listeners say about The Elephant and the Dragon

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    100
  • 4 Stars
    136
  • 3 Stars
    73
  • 2 Stars
    22
  • 1 Stars
    8
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    39
  • 4 Stars
    27
  • 3 Stars
    22
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    33
  • 4 Stars
    32
  • 3 Stars
    22
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

very good

Best audiobook I've listened to so far. It was interesting and very informative.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting Reading

Excellent overview of recent economic developments in India and China. Good general interest information or starting point for more detailed study.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars

Required reading - sort of

I listened to this book because it is on the U.S. Navy recommended reading list. This book is a good introduction to the issues of globalization and while scholars of India and China would probably find it way too basic, for the rest of us, this book can be the beginning of opening our eyes to the issues we read about in the papers.

Excellent discussion of why jobs are being offshored and a real wake up call to anyone who has high aspirations for their children. Great insight as to why the Chinese have the manufacturing jobs and the Indians have the technology jobs.

The author uses the word "tectonic" more than I think is needed, but otherwise the prose is clear. I found the audio quality to be excellent and the narration very crisp. Yes, the reader's voice is a bit mechanical, but I did not have any problem with that.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

Does an excellent job of explaining how both India and China came to hold near-superpower status. This book goes beyond The World is Flat as it addresses the link between the US and Chinese economies. I have recommeneded it to many friends and have listened to it many times.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Readable, even enjoyable, macroeconomics

This is an excellent synopsis of the emerging Asian economies of China and India presaging the implications of their economic growth and "coming of age" as global powers.

The author does a wonderful job of combining economic statistics with the stories of leaders and individuals that illustrate the meaning of the raw numbers. Economics may be the "dismal science," but Robyn Meredith makes it quite readable, even enjoyable.

Some of author's own political opinions color the "hard facts" contained in this book - which would be fine if clearly written as such. On the other hand, it would be almost impossible to write anything but the most bland statistical "yada, yada, yada" on this theme without some of the author's point of view creeping into the pages. Fortunately, these "transgressions" are few and detract little from the overall reading (or listening) experience.

On a technical note, the audio recording's volume levels seemed to be on the low side making listening on my "smartphone" difficult in the car, and other noisy environments. On my laptop, I could compensate for this, but some smartphone or portable MP3 player users may have similar difficulties. The recording's volume level can be corrected using volume compression, or normalization, during playback on many devices.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

relevant information but dated

Any additional comments?

The title delivers on the topic, except that the information is dated because this book was written before the global economic recession of 2008. The book's discussion and review of corporate activity in India and China is more glowing than I think is warranted. However the book does address problems for both the West and Eastern nations in the rise of these two Asian giants. It serves as a decent introduction to changes that have happened, are happening, and may happen for the world, and particularly the US, in light of Asia's economic development, Being unfamiliar with the topic except occasional newspaper articles, I found enough in this book to satisfy my initial interest. It paints a broad background sketch of some rapid changes that have occurred within the last couple decades.

The saccharin, complacent voice of Laural Merlington would suit a romance novel more than a book analyzing economic, social, and political trends. She reads clearly, but her tone and inflection do not support serious non-fiction. As I listened, I kept thinking a unicorn was going to arrive to save the day. I had the impression throughout the book that she was just reading rather than processing (understanding) the words.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very good summarization of the two countries

What made the experience of listening to The Elephant and the Dragon the most enjoyable?

Detail, Descriptive, Accurate

What other book might you compare The Elephant and the Dragon to and why?

The World is Flat

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The Elephant eats the Dragon :) Looks like its poised to do that.

Any additional comments?

This is a few years old now (2014). It would be a good time to write the next one in 2016.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Very Interesting read...

I really enjoyed this informative audio book... very well read with interesting thought provoking ideas...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

most important of economic books of our time

Suprisingly easy to listen and thouroughly engaging. My understanding of the evolution of India and China's economies and what it means to the rest of the world now and in the future has been greatly enhanced. I found the book to be mostly objective, citing fault and acheivment where due, regardless of political affiliations. I, also, appreciated that the book was not a total doom & gloom forecast and was optimistic at times and forewarned of obstacles ahead. I wish this book was recommended reading for every student in the USA.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Automaton narrator

This book was a fantastic read (hear?). I didn't know anything about Indian or Chinese history and it gave me the basic tools to understand why both of these countries are drawing such attention, by drawing comparisons and contrasts between the two countries over the last 50 years. I feel "smarter" and more aware of current politics outside of the American political bubble we live in.

The only drawback (and this was my first audiobook so maybe this is just the way things are) was that the narrator sounded like an automaton, like a computer recorded voice that says "for english, press one."

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful