In this exciting new book, Peter L. Bernstein, who chronicled the evolution of risk in his recent bestseller, Against the Gods, tells the story of history's most coveted, celebrated, and inglorious asset: gold. From the ancient fascinations of Moses and Midas through the modern convulsions caused by the gold standard and its aftermath, gold has led many of its most eager and proud possessors to a bad end. Gold had them, rather than the other way around. And while the same cycle of obsession and desperation may reverberate ...
Read More
In this exciting new book, Peter L. Bernstein, who chronicled the evolution of risk in his recent bestseller, Against the Gods, tells the story of history's most coveted, celebrated, and inglorious asset: gold. From the ancient fascinations of Moses and Midas through the modern convulsions caused by the gold standard and its aftermath, gold has led many of its most eager and proud possessors to a bad end. Gold had them, rather than the other way around. And while the same cycle of obsession and desperation may reverberate in today's fast-moving, electronically-driven stock markets, the role of gold in shaping human history is the striking feature of this tumultuous tale. Such is the power of gold. This fascinating account begins with the magical, religious, and artistic qualities of gold and progresses to the invention of coinage, the transformation of gold into money, and the gold standard. The more important gold becomes as money, the more loudly it speaks of power--even more loudly than when it served as an entry to Heaven or a symbol of omnipotence. Ultimately, the book confronts the future of gold in a world where it appears to have been relegated to the periphery of global finance. From the Bible to the Gold Rush era to modern day Fort Knox and beyond, unforgettable characters stride through these pages. Contemplate gold from the diverse perspectives of monarchs and moneyers, potentates and politicians, men of legendary wealth and others of more plebeian beginnings; from Asia Minor's King Croesus to Rome's noted speculator Crassus, to Byzantine emperors and humble miners, Venice's Marco Polo and Spain's Francisco Pizarro, to Charlemagne and Charles de Gaulle, Richard I and Richard Nixon, Isaac Newton and Winston Churchill, Britain's economists David Ricardo and John Maynard Keynes, and Christopher Columbus and the Forty-Niners. Perhaps most remarkable are the frantic speculators who pushed gold to $850.00 an ounce in 1980 just as their counterparts twenty years later drove Internet stocks to exorbitant heights. Whether it is Egyptian pharaohs with depraved tastes, the luxury-mad survivors of the Black Death, the Chinese inventor of paper money, the pirates on the Spanish Main, or the hardnosed believers in the international gold standard like the United States' President Herbert Hoover, gold has been the supreme possession. It has been an icon for greed and an emblem of rectitude, as well as a vehicle for vanity and a badge of power that has shaped the destiny of humanity through the ages. As Bernstein muses, "The joke is that nothing is as useless and useful all at the same time." Far more than a tale of romantic myths, daring explorations, and the history of money and power struggles, The Power of Gold suggests that the true significance of this infamous element may lie in the timeless passions it continues to evoke, and what this reveals about ourselves.
Read Less
Add this copy of The Power of Gold: the History of an Obsession to cart. $0.99, fair condition, Sold by ZBK Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Woodland Park, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by Wiley.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fair. May contain writing notes highlighting bends or folds. Text is readable book is clean and pages and cover mostly intact. May show normal wear and tear. Item may be missing CD. May include library marks.
Add this copy of The Power of Gold: the History of an Obsession to cart. $2.88, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by John Wiley & Sons.
Add this copy of The Power of Gold: the History of an Obsession to cart. $2.88, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by John Wiley & Sons.
Add this copy of The Power of Gold: the History of an Obsession to cart. $2.88, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by John Wiley & Sons.
Add this copy of The Power of Gold: the History of an Obsession to cart. $2.88, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by John Wiley & Sons.
Add this copy of The Power of Gold: the History of an Obsession to cart. $4.06, very good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by John Wiley & Sons.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very Good. Very Good condition. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp.
Add this copy of The Power of Gold: the History of an Obsession to cart. $4.06, good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by John Wiley & Sons.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. Good condition. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
Add this copy of The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession to cart. $9.00, new condition, Sold by Banbury Road Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Fountain Valley, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by John Wiley & Sons.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
New. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. Clean, unread copy in new condition. No marking or writing in the book. Covers are clean and show no wear.
Add this copy of The Power of Gold: the History of an Obsession to cart. $13.00, very good condition, Sold by Samuel S Lin rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Etobicoke, ON, CANADA, published 2000 by John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Add this copy of The Power of Gold: the History of an Obsession, 6th to cart. $15.00, very good condition, Sold by A2ZBooks rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Burgin, KY, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very Good Condition. Text appears clean. Cover shows little wear. Nice looking book Quantity Available: 1. ISBN: 0471003786. ISBN/EAN: 9780471003786. Pictures of this item not already displayed here available upon request. Inventory No: 1560759907.