Money is the tie that binds societies together. The means of exchanging something of value for goods or services, money has been around since its initial introduction in Mesopotamia some 5,000 years ago. Even earlier, the first means of indicating owed debts goes back almost 20,000 years to the Congo. Since these rudimentary beginnings on clay tablets and notches into bones, money has evolved dramatically to the form that we see today with coins, bitcoins, paper currency, and more.
Money: A Story of Humanity is as much a history of currency and economics as it is humanity. Author David McWilliams chronicles the rise of financial systems, the items that backed finance, and the evolution of how humans use money to buy and sell items, as well as to hold onto assets. The reader learns how money fueled not just economic growth and advancement but also warfare. McWilliams also includes humorous stories of how money has been expressed in architecture and art, along with how greed fueled speculative practices and economic calamity.
In essence, Money is a journey of us over the past centuries and how cash, or currency, or cryptocurrency rules everything around us whether we like it or not. McWilliams’s book is informative, entertaining, and fast-paced.
MY RATING: 4.5
