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.

Autorentext
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.

Klappentext

**AS HEARD ON RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK

THE INTERNATIONAL #1 BESTSELLER
SHORTLISTED FOR THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS 2024 NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEARA WATERSTONES NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024A 2024 BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE OBSERVER, ECONOMIST, FINANCIAL TIMES AND PROSPECT**

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

‘Exceptional’ FINANCIAL TIMES 

​‘A cracking book that is as enjoyable as it is readable’ PETER FRANKOPAN

‘Equally entertaining and insightful’ YANIS VAROUFAKIS
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MONEY.
The object of our desires.
The engine of our genius.
Humanity’s greatest invention.
From clay tablets in Mesopotamia to today’s cryptocurrency, global economist David McWilliams takes us on an epic journey of innovation, disruption and transformation that is an astonishing new history of our species.
The question is, over 5,000 years, have we changed money – or has money changed us?
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‘A fun history of money told through the stories of the chancers, cheats, scoundrels and geniuses who made it happen’ KATIE MARTIN
‘An impressive journey that fizzes with facts’ ECONOMIST

‘An eye-opening history of what makes the world go round’ EVENING STANDARD

‘Compelling, funny and original’ KATJA HOYER

‘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

Zusammenfassung
‘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