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Money: A Story of Humanity
David McWilliams
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Description for Money: A Story of Humanity
Paperback.
*AS HEARD ON RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK*
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SHORTLISTED FOR THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS 2024 NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
A WATERSTONES NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024
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A FINANCIAL TIMES ECONOMICS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024
A PROSPECT BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024
‘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 ... Read moreenjoyable as it is readable’ PETER FRANKOPAN
‘Equally entertaining and insightful’ YANIS VAROUFAKIS
_______________________________________________________ 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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‘An impressive journey that fizzes with facts’ ECONOMIST
‘An eye-opening history of what makes the world go round’ EVENING STANDARD
‘David McWilliams is the best explainer of economics I know’ SIMON KUPER
‘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 Show Less
Product Details
Publisher
Simon & Schuster London
Place of Publication
London, United Kingdom
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 2 to 4 working days
About David McWilliams
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 ... Read morephysics. Show Less
Reviews for Money: A Story of Humanity
‘A hugely ambitious, insightful and readable account of our relationship with money'
Felix Martin
Financial Times
‘A cracking book that is as enjoyable as it is readable’
Peter Frankopan, author of 'The Silk Roads' 'If, as David McWilliams complains, economists take the fun out of money, then he is the exception that proves ... Read morethe rule: a man who could not write a boring sentence if he tried, and who, in this brilliantly informative and entertaining book, has done his subject splendid justice'
Tom Holland ‘A breathtaking, expansive and imaginative ride through the history and future of Money from an author who truly understands it. If, like me, you’ve never quite figured out where money comes from or even what it is, this is the book for you’
Professor Brian Cox 'Equally entertaining and insightful'
Yanis Varoufakis 'Pacey chapters make for a series of entertaining – and at times irreverent – tales which relay a story of money that we all should know!'
Linda Yueh, author of The Great Crashes: Lessons from Global Meltdowns and How to Prevent Them ‘McWilliams has a great knack for bringing a complex economics story to life. He is also funny. In economics, that's a rare and persuasive combination’
Irish Times
'Pacey chapters make for a series of entertaining – and at times irreverent – tales which relay a story of money that we all should know!'
Linda Yueh, author of The Great Crashes: Lessons from Global Meltdowns and How to Prevent Them ‘David McWilliams is the best explainer of economics I know. Here he explains the world through money, and it’s fantastically entertaining. He's the kind of writer who makes you feel clever, because he helps you grasp things you never understood before’
Simon Kuper, author of 'Chums: How a Tiny Caste of Oxford Tories took over the UK' ‘A timely, fascinating account of how money has powered life on our planet from Ireland’s superstar economist. Money is so often shrouded in secrecy and manipulated by forces we barely understand, so it’s refreshing to read a book that traces our relationship with it with such healthy irreverence!’
Mariella Frostrup ‘McWilliams is charismatic, free flowing, unflaggingly engaging’
Fintan O’Toole ‘If there's one person who can turn an economic history of the world into a page turner, it's David McWilliams. This book makes a compelling, funny and original case for the idea that money does indeed make the world go round’
Katja Hoyer, author of 'Beyond the Wall' ‘A tour de force of economic history that manages to be erudite, authoritative and engaging . . . His account is peppered with memorably colourful - and sometimes spicy - details that will grab the attention of experts and lay people alike . . . After reading this, you will never look at your bank account in the same way again’
Gillian Tett 'A fun history of money told through the stories of the chancers, cheats, scoundrels and geniuses through the ages who made it happen . . . We take money for granted. Not the amounts of it, but just the fact that it works. This book is a great way to figure out why, and how it shapes the world around us’
Katie Martin, columnist at the Financial Times Show Less
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