Money: The Unauthorised Biography - Hardcover

Martin, Felix

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1847922333 ISBN 13: 9781847922335

Publisher: Bodley Head, 2013

Synopsis

What is money, and how does it work?

The conventional answer is that people once used sugar in the West Indies, tobacco in Virginia, and dried cod in Newfoundland, and that today’s financial universe evolved from barter.

Unfortunately, there is a problem with this story. It’s wrong. And not just wrong, but dangerous.
Money: the Unauthorised Biography unfolds a panoramic secret history and explains the truth about money: what it is, where it comes from, and how it works.

Drawing on stories from throughout human history and around the globe, Money will radically rearrange your understanding of the world and shows how money can once again become the most powerful force for freedom we have ever known.

About this title

Review:

"Brilliant... A fascinating new way of telling the story of what money is" (John Lanchester Guardian)

"A superb synthesis...a lucid, colourful introduction to 3,000 years of monetary history... So replete with literary and historical examples that the story almost tells itself" (Martin Sandbu Financial Times)

"Magnificent – hugely imaginative, clear, coherent" (Robert Skidelsky)

"Fizzing with ideas" (Sunday Telegraph)

"Compulsively readable" (New York Times)

"A most accessible and thrilling read. If you want to read just one book about money, this is it" (Ha-Joon Chang)

"If you don’t know about economics, this is a really good introduction...gets right to the heart of it" (Misha Glenny)

"It’s a wealth of understanding for understanding wealth" (Esquire)

"Combines breadth of scholarship with a wealth of practical experience in tackling the most elusive of economic subjects - the nature of money" (John Kay)

"Martin’s remarkable book, Money, is economic history – and indeed cultural anthropology – with a difference... His sparkling book is worth taking seriously" (Raymond Tallis Prospect)

Book Description:

Money was one of man’s greatest inventions. But we have become its slaves. Felix Martin takes us to the heart of society’s misunderstanding of money and sets us straight.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bodley Head
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1847922333
• ISBN 13: 9781847922335
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336