Wal-Mart is not just the world's largest company--it is the largest company in the history of the world. It is estimated that the company's low prices save American consumers $10 billion a year--but the #1 employer in 37 states has never let a union in the door. Though 70% of Americans now live within a 15-minute drive of a Wal-Mart, we have not even begun to understand the true power of the company. We know about the lawsuits and the labour protests, but what we don't know is how profoundly the "Wal-Mart effect" is changing our America's economy, our workforce, our communities, and our environment. Journalist Fishman takes us on a behind-the-scenes investigative expedition, interviewing 25 high-level ex-executives and a host of Wal-Mart's suppliers, and journeying to the ports and factories where Wal-Mart's power is warping the very structure of the world's market.--From publisher description. About this edition's afterword : Wal-Mart talks back : "The popularity of The Wal-Mart effect and the fact that the press immediately turned to Charles Fishman as an authoritative but unbiased source to interpret Wal-Mart news, led Wal-Mart to crck open the company's wall of silence - executives invited Fishman to Bentonville in April 2006 for a day of conversations about Walmart's impact and The Wal-Mart effect." -- From the publisher.

Includes a new afterword entitled Wal-Mart talks back, read by the author. Compact disc.