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The history of money : a story of humanity Cover Image Book

The history of money : a story of humanity

McWilliams, David (author.).

Summary: In this fresh, eye-opening global history, economist David McWilliams charts the relationship between humans and money-from clay tablets in Mesopotamia to cryptocurrency in Silicon Valley. The story of humanity is inextricable from that of money. No innovation has defined our own evolution so thoroughly and changed the direction of our planet's history so dramatically. And yet despite money's primacy, most of us don't truly understand it. As leading economist David McWilliams shows, money is central to every aspect of our civilization, from the political to the artistic. "Money defines the relationship between worker and employer, buyer and seller, merchant and producer. But not only that: it also defines the bond between the governed and the governor, the state and the citizen. Money unlocks pleasure, puts a price on desire, art and creativity. It motivates us to strive, achieve, invent and take risks. Money also brings out humanity's darker side, invoking greed, envy, hatred, violence and, of course, colonialism." In The History of Money, McWilliams takes us across the world, from the birthplace of money in ancient Babylon to the beginning of trade along the Silk Road, from Marrakech markets to Wall Street. Along the way, we meet a host of innovators, emperors, frauds, and speculators, who have disrupted society and transformed the way we live. Filled with memorable anecdotes, and with a foreword by Michael Lewis, The History of Money is an essential, extremely readable history of humanity's most consequential invention.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9781250408181
  • ISBN: 1250408180
  • Physical Description: print
    xv, 399 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps ; 25 cm.
  • Edition: First U.S. edition.
  • Publisher: New York : Henry Holt and Company, 2025.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 371-386) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:
Foreword / Michael Lewis -- Introduction -- Ancient money. Money in the beginning -- By the rivers of Babylon -- From contracts to coins -- Money and the Greek mind -- The empire of credit -- Medieval money. Twilight of the feudal economy -- Saracen magic -- Darkness into light -- God's printer -- Revolutionary money. Invisible money -- The father of monetary economics -- The bishop of money -- Money and the American Republic -- Modern money. Empiricism and the evolutionary economy -- Money on trial -- Yellow brick road -- Modernist money -- Into the abyss -- Money unbound. Who controls money? -- The psychology of money -- The evolution of money.

Search for related items by subject

Subject:
Money History
Genre:
Informational works.

Available copies

  • 17 of 19 copies available at NC Cardinal. (Show)
  • 1 of 1 copy available at Onslow County Public Library.

Holds

  • 1 current hold with 19 total copies.
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Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Jacksonville Main Library 332.409 MCW (Text) 36015000760005 Adult Nonfiction Available -
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