Synopsis
Money is the root of all history--or so argues historian Niall Ferguson in his one volume world history, THE ASCENT OF MONEY. Ferguson presents a popular account of the globalized economy that has grown to dominate our age and which has fueled wars, revolutions, and "economic progress." Ferguson traces the origin of money back to the ancient Mesopotamians and reveals the economic back-story to a range of historical events. His mastery of the complicated structure of international finance and markets becomes evident in his handling of more recent history such as the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2008-11-13 |
| Size | | Length: | 441 pages | | Height: | 9.3 in | | Width: | 6.3 in | | Thickness: | 1.5 in | | Weight: | 23.2 oz |
Publisher's Note
Chronicles the human drama behind the evolution of finance from its origins in Mesopotamia to the modern world's most recent upheavals, in an account that covers such topics as the stock market bubble that prompted the French Revolution, the theories behind common investment vehicles, and the reasons why the free market is failing to protect Hurricane Katrina victims. 75,000 first printing.
Industry Reviews
"The curses and the blessings, the seductions and the traps of money, give Niall Ferguson the most redolent of subjects for THE ASCENT OF MONEY, his excellent, just-in-time guide to the history of finance and financial crisis."
(11/30/2008)
"Although THE ASCENT OF MONEY is pockmarked by digressions (about things like the Black-Scholes model of options pricing) that many lay readers will find arcane and difficult to understand, the book as a whole is animated by Mr. Ferguson's narrative gifts, among them his ability to discuss complex ideas in user-friendly terms. He also has a knack for illustrating his larger hypotheses with colorful stories about people like Nathan Rothschild... the Scottish economist and gambler John Law...; and the Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman and his so-called Chicago Boys, who helped bring economic reforms to Pinochet's Chile."
(12/02/2008)
"Whatever one thinks of his arguments, it's impossible to ignore Niall Ferguson. He's like the brightest kid in the debating club, the one who pulls all-nighters in the library and ferrets out facts no one thought to uncover. And in his latest book, THE ASCENT OF MONEY...Ferguson takes us on an often enlightening and enjoyable spelunking tour through the underside of great events, a lesson in how the most successful great powers have always been underpinned by smart money."
(12/28/2008)
"[A] magnificently entertaining and provocative new book....The origins of the book as a television series are apparent. The rapid shift of perspective is great fun, though an academic would say that it would be helpful to have a systematic exploration of the thesis of financial evolution. That would lead to the loss of some of the verve and vim with which the tale of financial genius and financial folly and skullduggery are interwoven."
(03/27/2009)
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