The Power of Gold. (The History of an Obsession)
Language: English
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc, U.S.A, 2000
- First Edition
- Hardcover
- Used
Seller: Besleys Books PBFA, Diss, United KingdomBesleys Books PBFA
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Association member: PBFA
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- Title
- The Power of Gold. (The History of an Obsession)
- Author
- Peter L. Bernstein
- Publisher
- John Wiley & Sons, Inc, U.S.A
- Publication year
- 2000
- Condition
- Good
- Dust jacket
- Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0471252107
- ISBN 13
- 9780471252108
- Edition
- First Edition.
- Seller catalogs
- Reference and Text Books.
This fascinating account begins with the magical, religious, and artistic qualities of gold and progresses to the invention of coinage, the transformation of gold into money, and the gold standard. The more important gold becomes as money, the more loudly it speaks of power––even more loudly than when it served as an entry to Heaven or a symbol of omnipotence. Ultimately, the book confronts the future of gold in a world where it appears to have been relegated to the periphery of global finance.
From the Bible to the Gold Rush era to modern day Fort Knox and beyond, unforgettable characters stride through these pages. Contemplate gold from the diverse perspectives of monarchs and moneyers, potentates and politicians, men of legendary wealth and others of more plebeian beginnings; from Asia Minor′s King Croesus to Rome′s noted speculator Crassus, to Byzantine emperors and humble miners, Venice′s Marco Polo and Spain′s Francisco Pizarro, to Charlemagne and Charles de Gaulle, Richard I and Richard Nixon, Isaac Newton and Winston Churchill, Britain′s economists David Ricardo and John Maynard Keynes, and Christopher Columbus and the Forty–Niners. Perhaps most remarkable are the frantic speculators who pushed gold to $850.00 an ounce in 1980 just as their counterparts twenty years later drove Internet stocks to exorbitant heights.
Whether it is Egyptian pharaohs with depraved tastes, the luxury–mad survivors of the Black Death, the Chinese inventor of paper money, the pirates on the Spanish Main, or the hardnosed believers in the international gold standard like the United States′ President Herbert Hoover, gold has been the supreme possession. It has been an icon for greed and an emblem of rectitude, as well as a vehicle for vanity and a badge of power that has shaped the destiny of humanity through the ages. As Bernstein muses, "The joke is that nothing is as useless and useful all at the same time."
Far more than a tale of romantic myths, daring explorations, and the history of money and power struggles, The Power of Gold suggests that the true significance of this infamous element may lie in the timeless passions it continues to evoke, and what this reveals about ourselves.
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About the Author
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Besleys Books PBFA
Diss, United Kingdom
Shipping rates from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
| Item | 15 to 60 business days | 5 to 30 business days |
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Specialty
General Antiquarian, Gardening and Natural History, Illustrated and Private PressAssociation member
Seller's business information
Besleys Books PBFA
United Kingdom
Terms of sale
Proprietor Stephen Besley.
email: info@besleysbooks.com
01502 715762
Besleys Books
4 Blyburgate
Beccles
Suffolk
NR34 9TA
United Kingdom
Besleys Books has been trading in Beccles since 1986. There are four rooms of books to browse, where you will find books at all price levels. There is always a good stock of general antiquarian books, gardening and natural history, illustrated books, art and the allied arts, but most other subjects are covered. Our shop opening hours are Monday to Saturday from 9.30 am to 5pm, closed on Sunday. Visa and Mastercard accepted. We regularly exhibit at book-fairs. We provide a booksearch service and valuations for insurance and probate. We continually need to buy books, both important items and more general stock for shop and catalogues.
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