With the reach of the Internet today, “local” is taking on a new meaning. Today’s business is increasingly being conducted in a global, multi-lingual and multi-cultural environment. As software developers, the concept of internationalisation (a word which, ironically, is itself spelt differently within the English speaking community) and indeed localisation is something we need to be more than aware of. However, it’s a topic that attracts a lot of attention, yet few have written about in such depth as Guy Smith-Ferrier. Indeed, in my experience, a lot of authors who attempt to cover internationalisation have, despite best efforts, sent their intended readers into a comatose state – internationalisation as a topic is perhaps not the most exciting topic to choose to read about! However, I’m pleased to report that Guy manages to inject enough humour and witty anecdotes such that as a reader, I was kept interested.