The Ascent of Money.

FERGUSON, Niall.

Item Number: 81276

New York: The Penguin Press, 2008.

First edition, early printing of this original look at the origins of money and how it makes the world go round. Octavo, original half cloth. Signed by Niall Ferguson on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of our financial system, from its genesis in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals on what he calls Planet Finance. What's more, Ferguson reveals financial history as the essential backstory behind all history, arguing that the evolution of credit and debt was as important as any technological innovation in the rise of civilization. As Ferguson traces the crisis from ancient Egypt's Memphis to today's Chongqing, he offers bold and compelling new insights into the rise--and fall--of not just money but Western power as well.