Money

For readers of SAPIENS and Yanis Varoufakis, the definitive story of money and how it shaped humankind from influential global economist David McWilliams

The greatest story ever sold . . . Money is an epic, breathlessly entertaining exploration of how money has shaped human history. In it, renowned global economist David McWilliams charts the most ground-breaking monetary innovations and moments in time, from coinage in Ancient Greece to paper money in medieval China, from the gold standard in 19th century America to digital currency today. Money reveals to us our desires, our genius and our downfalls. Nothing we’ve invented as a species 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. In his witty, lively and accessible style, McWilliams unlocks the mysteries and the awesome power of money: what it is, how it works and why it matters. Because the story of money is the story of us: earth’s most inventive, destructive and dangerous animal.

Auteur
David McWilliams is a global economist, writer and broadcaster whose unique ability to communicate complex societal and economic structures is unparalleled. Having worked at the Central Bank of Ireland, he became a faculty member at Trinity College, Dublin business school. He's been described as being to economics what David Attenborough is to the natural sciences and Brian Cox is to physics.

Texte du rabat

In this groundbreaking book, renowned global economist David McWilliams unlocks the mysteries and the awesome power of money: what it is, how it works and why it matters. 

Money is an epic, breathlessly entertaining journey across the world through the present and the past, from the birthplace of money in ancient Babylon to the beginning of trade along the silk road to China, from Marrakech markets to Wall Street and the dawn of cryptocurrency. By tracking its history McWilliams uncovers our relationship with money, transforming our perspective on its impact on the world right now.

The story of money is the story of our desires, our genius and our downfalls. Money has shaped the very essence of what it means to be human. We can’t hope to understand ourselves without it. And yet despite money’s primacy, most of us don’t truly understand it. Where does money come from? How much is out there? Who controls it? Nothing we’ve invented as a species has defined our own evolution so thoroughly and changed the direction of our planet’s history so dramatically. Money is power – and power beguiles. It unleashes our deepest cravings.

The story of money is the story of earth’s most inventive, destructive and dangerous animal, Homo Sapiens. It is our story.

Résumé
‘A breathtaking, expansive and imaginative ride through the history and future of money from an author who truly understands it' PROFESSOR BRIAN COX

'A cracking book that is as enjoyable as it is readable' PETER FRANKOPAN

‘Equally entertaining and insightful’ YANIS VAROUFAKIS

‘If, as David McWilliams complains, economists take the fun out of money, then he is the exception that proves the rule: a man who could not write a boring sentence if he tried’ TOM HOLLAND
_ MONEY.
The object of our desires.
The engine of our genius.
Humanity’s greatest invention.

Money is everything. It brings freedom and it takes it away. It inspires and corrupts us. But what is money? Is it the main thing holding us back from utopia or is it the one constant that’s driven us to success?

In his illuminating, entertaining and often surprising book, economist David McWilliams charts the relationship between humans and money – from clay tablets in Mesopotamia to coins in Ancient Greece, from mathematics in the medieval Arab world to the French Revolution, and from the emergence of the US dollar right up to today’s cryptocurrency. Along the way, we meet a host of characters who have innovated with money, disrupting society and transforming the way we live. Like humanity, money is ever changing, adapting to its time and circumstances. The question is, over the last 5000 years, have we changed money or has money changed us? Money tells an astonishing new story of our species. Taking the reader on an epic journey through the history of money, McWilliams reveals its fundamental role in our society.
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‘David McWilliams is the best explainer of economics I know. Here he explains the world through money, and it's fantastically entertaining’ SIMON KUPER

‘A timely, fascinating account of how money has powered life on our planet’ MARIELLA FROSTRUP

'A tour de force of economic history' GILLIAN TETT

'Compelling, funny and original' KATJA HOYER