Now van Agtmael, who coined the phrase 'emerging markets', looks at that moment as critical. For companies in what Goldman Sachs refers to as the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China - the high-growth economies of the 21st century that collectively will outgrow the G7 by 2040) this was the key moment when the wheat was separated from the chaff. Shorn of state protection, hyper-Darwinian market conditions produced companies that, having survived there, could become global companies. Brazil's Embraer aircraft manufacturer, Korea's Samsung and Hyundai, Chile's Concha y Toro wine makers - all are competing and winning on the world stage against the 20th century giants from Europe, America and Japan.

Not just another book about the rise of China and India, it offers insights to managers about what it takes to build world-beating companies from the most unlikely places. A refresher course some of our own business class - and those who cover it - could use around now.