The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World

“Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot, lucre, moolah, readies, the wherewithal: call it what you like, money matters. To Christians, the love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it is the sinews of war; to revolutionaries, the shackles of labor. But what exactly is money?”

Ferguson’s first point is that money matters to all of us, whether we like it or not. It affects our lives, whatever the lens we view it through. But it poses a simple question that gets at the heart of the book: How many of us actually know what money is? One might add: How does it work? That’s the crux of Ferguson’s book. He wants to educate people about the workings of money and the financial system by examining its history. 

“The evolution of credit and debt was as important as any technological innovation in the rise of civilization, from ancient Babylon to present-day Hong Kong.” 

Ferguson argues throughout the book that financial innovations represent progress. While we tend to think of science and technology or the law as underpinning civilization, financial systems are just as important. 

“Behind each great historical phenomenon there lies a financial secret, and this book sets out to illuminate the most important of these.” 

History is often seen in terms of the actions of influential people, competing ideas, and underlying social movements, but Ferguson give examples of how finance has had a great impact on historical events, from the French Revolution to the American Civil War to homeownership in the Great Depression.