The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World

Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot. Call if what you like, it matters now more than ever. In The Ascent of Money, Niall Ferguson shows that financial history is the back-story to all history.From the banking dynasty who funded the Italian Renaissance to the stock market bubble that caused the French Revolution, this is the story of booms and busts as it’s never been told before.With the world in the grip of the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, there’s never been a better time to understand the ascent – and descent – of money.’Beautifully written … Breathtakingly clever’ Sunday Telegraph’A lucid and racy account of financial history’ New Statesman’A fine, readable and entertaining history’ Dominic Sandbrook, Daily Telegraph, Books of the Year’The tales he tells of boom and bust, of triumph and disaster, of bubbles that inflate … are the very essence of financial history’ Bill Emmott, Financial Times’An often enlightening and enjoyable tour through the underside of great events, a lesson in how the most successful great powers have always been underpinned by smart money’ Robert Skidelsky, New York Review of Books

Reviews of The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World

The hardback publication of Niall Ferguson's book was prophetic, but this edition – topped and tailed with a passionate, closely argued call for us to educate ourselves about financial markets – could not be more timely — Tony Clements * Telegraph * Dazzling … extraordinarily timely — Martin Vander Weyer * Spectator * A whistle-stop tour of the historical events that gave us the financial system we have today … To Niall Ferguson's list of talents we can now add great timing — Stephanie Flanders * Mail on Sunday * Ferguson is the most brilliant British historian of his generation … he writes with splendid panache * Times * Ferguson's powers are on formidable display — Tristram Hunt * Observer * Wonderfully accessible … Ferguson is spot on — Allister Heath * Literary Review * A fine history … told with verve and insight * Daily Telegraph * One of the world's leading historians — Hamish McRae * Independent *