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The ascent of money : a financial history of the world  Cover Image Book Book

The ascent of money : a financial history of the world / Niall Ferguson.

Ferguson, Niall. (Author).

Record details

  • ISBN: 1594201927
  • ISBN: 9781594201929
  • ISBN: 9781410415332 (hardcover : alk. paper)
  • ISBN: 1410415333 (hardcover : alk. paper)
  • ISBN: 9781607519676
  • ISBN: 1607519674
  • ISBN: 9780143116172 (pbk.)
  • ISBN: 0143116177 (pbk.)
  • Physical Description: v, 441 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
  • Publisher: New York : Penguin Press, 2008.

Content descriptions

General Note:
TV tie-in.
Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references (p. 363-397) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:
Introduction -- Dreams of avarice -- Of human bondage -- Blowing bubbles -- The return of risk -- Safe as houses -- From empire to Chimerica -- Afterword : The descent of money.
Summary, etc.:
Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of finance, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals. To Christians, love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it's the sinews of war. To revolutionaries, it's the chains of labor. But historian Ferguson shows that finance is in fact the foundation of human progress. What's more, he reveals financial history as the essential backstory behind all history. Through Ferguson's expert lens, for example, the civilization of the Renaissance looks very different: a boom in the market for art and architecture made possible when Italian bankers adopted Arabic mathematics. The rise of the Dutch republic is reinterpreted as the triumph of the world's first modern bond market over insolvent Habsburg absolutism. Yet the central lesson of financial history is that, sooner or later, every bubble bursts.--From publisher description.
Subject: Finance > History.
Economic history.
Economics > History.
Money > History.
International finance > History.

Available copies

  • 27 of 27 copies available at Bibliomation. (Show)
  • 1 of 1 copy available at Kent Library Association - Kent.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 27 total copies.
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Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Kent Library Association - Kent 332.09 FER (Text) 33410150980615 Adult Nonfiction Available -

Summary: Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of finance, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals. To Christians, love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it's the sinews of war. To revolutionaries, it's the chains of labor. But historian Ferguson shows that finance is in fact the foundation of human progress. What's more, he reveals financial history as the essential backstory behind all history. Through Ferguson's expert lens, for example, the civilization of the Renaissance looks very different: a boom in the market for art and architecture made possible when Italian bankers adopted Arabic mathematics. The rise of the Dutch republic is reinterpreted as the triumph of the world's first modern bond market over insolvent Habsburg absolutism. Yet the central lesson of financial history is that, sooner or later, every bubble bursts.--From publisher description.

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