The Ascent of Money
A Financial History of the World
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The Ascent of Money
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Narrated by:
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Simon Prebble
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By:
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Niall Ferguson
About this listen
Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot, lucre, moolah, readies, the wherewithal: Call it what you like, it matters. To Christians, love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it's the sinews of war. To revolutionaries, it's the chains of labor. But in The Ascent of Money, Niall Ferguson shows that finance is in fact the foundation of human progress. What's more, he reveals financial history as the essential back story behind all history.
Through Ferguson's expert lens familiar historical landmarks appear in a new and sharper financial focus. Suddenly, the civilization of the Renaissance looks very different: a boom in the market for art and architecture made possible when Italian bankers adopted Arabic mathematics. The rise of the Dutch republic is reinterpreted as the triumph of the world's first modern bond market over insolvent Habsburg absolutism. And the origins of the French Revolution are traced back to a stock market bubble caused by a convicted Scot murderer.
©2008 Niall Ferguson (P)2008 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Editorial reviews
The Ascent of Money is a fast-paced, superbly written, and richly informative excursion through tableaus, themes, scenes, and events that mark the financial history of the world. Included are substantial details on the fiscal meltdown in progress in May 2008, before the book went to press, adding a 21st century variation on the theme of financial collapses detailed in The Ascent of Money. Niall Ferguson has written an exciting panorama of finance that is also very much a book for our times. This is history as global financial drama, of advancing financial development, and the always recurring back stories of financial decline and debacle. It is a book orchestrated as much as written. The Ascent of Money demands a narrator with the range of talents necessary for bringing to voice the rich orchestration of Ferguson's prose. Enter, stage right, Simon Prebble.
With his rich, versatile, and expressive British tenor voice (and his 300+ unabridged narrations in a variety of genres), Prebble is Ascent's perfect narrator. From the first sentence of the Introduction "Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot, lucre, moolah, readies, the wherewithal: call it what you like, money matters." to the last sentence of the Afterword "It is not the fault of the mirror if it reflects our blemishes as clearly as our beauty." Prebble delivers the authentic voice of this financial history. Applying here an altered nuance of phrasing, there the shortest of a shift of timing and slant of intonation, and everywhere present the voice's active tonal center, Prebble drives Ferguson's historical narrative forward. In a print book the reading eye catches, and the mind registers - at places only subliminally - meanings that are too subtle to be directly communicated. By his command and application of stored registries of articulation, expression, and ranges of emotion, Prebble clearly shows that he belongs with the best of narrators who can tap into and reflect and suggest the visual acuity that registers in the mind when reading and narrating. David Chasey
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Easy to Understand and Comprehend
- By Kyle on 04-11-10
By: Simon Johnson, and others
-
The Age of Oversupply
- Overcoming the Greatest Challenge to the Global Economy
- By: Daniel Alpert
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 40
The governments and central banks of the developed world have tried every policy tool imaginable, yet our economies remain sluggish, or worse. How did we get here, and how can we emerge from the longest downturn in recent memory? Daniel Alpert, a progressive Wall Street banker and economist, argues that we are living in the age of oversupply.
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3 out of 5 stars
-
Great book but now out of date
- By emory morsberger on 11-30-17
By: Daniel Alpert
-
Naked Money
- A Revealing Look at What It Is and Why It Matters
- By: Charles Wheelan
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 596
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 528
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 525
Consider the $20 bill. It has no more value, as a simple slip of paper, than Monopoly money. Yet even children recognize that tearing one into small pieces is an act of inconceivable stupidity. What makes a $20 bill actually worth $20? In the third volume of his best-selling Naked series, Charles Wheelan uses this seemingly simple question to open the door to the surprisingly colorful world of money and banking.
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5 out of 5 stars
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This is a beautiful audiobook, and well-narrated.
- By Thirsty Mind on 11-10-18
By: Charles Wheelan
-
Wall Street
- A History, Updated Edition
- By: Charles R. Geisst
- Narrated by: Stephen McLaughlin
- Length: 27 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 120
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 107
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 107
Wall Street is an unending source of legend - and nightmares. It is a universal symbol of both the highest aspirations of economic prosperity and the basest impulses of greed and deception. Charles R. Geisst's Wall Street is at once a chronicle of the street itself - from the days when the wall was merely a defensive barricade built by Peter Stuyvesant - and an engaging economic history of the United States, a tale of profits and losses, enterprising spirits, and key figures that transformed America into the most powerful economy in the world.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Many books in one; best linking of stories, eras
- By Philo on 03-23-14
-
Currency Wars
- The Making of the Next Global Crises
- By: James Rickards
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,772
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,504
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,510
In 1971, President Nixon imposed national price controls and took the United States off the gold standard, an extreme measure intended to end an ongoing currency war that had destroyed faith in the U.S. dollar. Today we are engaged in a new currency war, and this time the consequences will be far worse than those that confronted Nixon. Currency wars are one of the most destructive and feared outcomes in international economics.
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2 out of 5 stars
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don't be misled
- By peter on 04-01-12
By: James Rickards
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A Brief History of Doom
- Two Hundred Years of Financial Crises (Haney Foundation Series)
- By: Richard Vague
- Narrated by: Kevin Meyer
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 48
Financial crises happen time and again in post-industrial economies - and they are extraordinarily damaging. Building on insights gleaned from many years of work in the banking industry and drawing on a vast trove of data, Richard Vague argues that such crises follow a pattern that makes them both predictable and avoidable. A Brief History of Doom examines a series of major crises over the past 200 years in the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, Japan, and China - including the Great Depression and the economic meltdown of 2008.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Continuity
- By Anonymous User on 08-24-22
By: Richard Vague
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Why Wall Street Matters
- By: William D. Cohan
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 4 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 50
William D. Cohan is no knee-jerk advocate for Wall Street and the big banks. He's one of America's most respected financial journalists and the progressive best-selling author of House of Cards. He has long been critical of the bad behavior that plagued much of Wall Street in the years leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, and because he spent 17 years as an investment banker on Wall Street, he is an expert on its inner workings as well.
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2 out of 5 stars
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An Inch Deep and A Mile Wide
- By Doug Sheridan on 04-26-17
By: William D. Cohan
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The Death of Money
- The Coming Collapse of the International Monetary System
- By: James Rickards
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,091
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 933
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 930
The international monetary system has collapsed three times in the past hundred years, in 1914, 1939, and 1971. Each collapse was followed by a period of tumult: War, civil unrest, or significant damage to the stability of the global economy. Now James Rickards, the acclaimed author of Currency Wars, shows why another collapse is rapidly approaching - and why this time, nothing less than the institution of money itself is at risk.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A good review of the global financial system
- By Jean on 04-22-14
By: James Rickards
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Money
- The Unauthorized Biography
- By: Felix Martin
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 130
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 114
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 112
From ancient currency to Adam Smith, from the gold standard to shadow banking and the Great Recession: a sweeping historical epic that traces the development and evolution of one of humankind’s greatest inventions.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Difficult to imagine how it could be worse
- By J. M. Batista on 09-19-17
By: Felix Martin
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Borrowed Time
- Two Centuries of Booms, Busts, and Bailouts at Citi
- By: James Freeman, Vern McKinley
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 41
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
To save the economy and keep Citi afloat in 2008, the government provided huge infusions of cash through multiple bailouts that frustrated and angered the American public. But, as Wall Street Journal writer James Freeman and financial expert Vern McKinley reveal, the 2008 crisis was just one of many disasters Citi has experienced since its founding more than 200 years ago. In Borrowed Time they reveal Citi’s disturbing history of instability and government support. It’s a story that neither Citi nor Washington wants told.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Biased
- By CF on 08-09-19
By: James Freeman, and others
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Dead Aid
- Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa
- By: Dambisa Moyo, Niall Ferguson - foreword
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 136
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 115
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 114
A national best-seller, Dead Aid unflinchingly confronts one of the greatest myths of our time: that billions of dollars in aid sent from wealthy countries to developing African nations has helped to reduce poverty and increase growth. In fact, poverty levels continue to escalate and growth rates have steadily declined - and millions continue to suffer. Debunking the current model of international aid promoted by both Hollywood celebrities and policy makers, Dambisa Moyo offers a bold new road map for financing the development of the world's poorest countries.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Dangerous / Right Wing US view
- By David O'Donovan on 03-05-19
By: Dambisa Moyo, and others
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The Shifts and the Shocks
- What We've Learned - and Have Still to Learn - from the Financial Crisis
- By: Martin Wolf
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 47
The Shifts and the Shocks is not another detailed history of the crisis, but the most persuasive and complete account yet published of what the crisis should teach us about modern economies and economics. The audiobook identifies the origin of the crisis in the complex interaction between globalization, hugely destabilizing global imbalances and our dangerously fragile financial system.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Good on Europe's problems, fair global update
- By Philo on 01-08-15
By: Martin Wolf
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The End of Normal
- The Great Crisis and the Future of Growth
- By: James K. Galbraith
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
The years since the Great Crisis of 2008 have seen slow growth, high unemployment, falling home values, chronic deficits, a deepening disaster in Europe - and a stale argument between two false solutions, “austerity” on one side and “stimulus” on the other. Both sides and practically all analyses of the crisis so far take for granted that the economic growth from the early 1950s until 2000 - interrupted only by the troubled 1970s - represented a normal performance.
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Other People's Money
- The Real Business of Finance
- By: John Kay
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 235
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 184
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 187
The finance sector of Western economies is too large and attracts too many of the smartest college graduates. Financialization over the past three decades has created a structure that lacks resilience and supports absurd volumes of trading. The finance sector devotes too little attention to the search for new investment opportunities and the stewardship of existing ones, and far too much to secondary-market dealing in existing assets. Regulation has contributed more to the problems than the solutions.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Listened twice. Everyone must read this.
- By Tristan on 01-18-16
By: John Kay
-
After the Music Stopped
- The Financial Crisis, the Response, and the Work Ahead
- By: Alan S. Blinder
- Narrated by: Graham Vick
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 169
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 149
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 148
Alan S. Blinder - esteemed Princeton professor, Wall Street Journal columnist, and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board under Alan Greenspan - is one of our wisest and most clear-eyed economic thinkers. In After the Music Stopped, he delivers a masterful narrative of how the worst economic crisis in postwar American history happened, what the government did to fight it, and what we must do to recover from it.
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1 out of 5 stars
-
Irresponsible, corrupt, and confused book
- By Thomas on 12-22-14
By: Alan S. Blinder
-
An Extraordinary Time
- The End of the Postwar Boom and the Return of the Ordinary Economy
- By: Marc Levinson
- Narrated by: James Foster
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 50
A sweeping reappraisal of the last sixty years of world history, An Extraordinary Time describes how the postwar economic boom dissipated, undermining faith in government, destabilizing the global financial system, and forcing us to come to terms with how tumultuous our economy really is.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Good review of crucial turning point in history
- By Philo on 11-22-16
By: Marc Levinson
-
Fault Lines
- How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World's Economy
- By: Raghuram Rajan
- Narrated by: Richard Davidson
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 147
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 79
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 82
Raghuram Rajan was one of the few economists who warned of the global financial crisis before it hit. Now, as the world struggles to recover, it's tempting to blame what happened on just a few greedy bankers who took irrational risks and left the rest of us to foot the bill. In Fault Lines, Rajan argues that serious flaws in the economy are also to blame, and warns that a potentially more devastating crisis awaits us if they aren't fixed.
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1 out of 5 stars
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A REAL SNOOZER
- By Frank on 12-02-10
By: Raghuram Rajan
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Civilization
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The rise to global predominance of Western civilization is the single most important historical phenomenon of the past five hundred years. All over the world, an astonishing proportion of people now work for Western-style companies, study at Western-style universities, vote for Western-style governments, take Western medicines, wear Western clothes, and even work Western hours. Yet six hundred years ago the petty kingdoms of Western Europe seemed unlikely to achieve much more than perpetual internecine warfare. It was Ming China or Ottoman Turkey that had the look of world civilizations.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Thoughtful analysis of the ascendancy of the West.
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The Great Degeneration
- How Institutions Decay and Economies Die
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Best-selling author and world-renowned historian Niall Ferguson has won widespread acclaim for thought-provoking works such as Civilization and High Financier. The Great Degeneration tackles nothing less than the decline of Western civilization. Ferguson posits that slowing growth, outrageous debt, and antisocial behavior are contributing to the erosion of the West’s once rock-solid foundations. Ferguson excavates the causes and shows how heroic leadership and radical reform are needed to right the course.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Superb as always!
- By Ivanhoe on 08-28-17
By: Niall Ferguson
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The Square and the Tower
- Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook
- By: Niall Ferguson
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,018
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Most history is hierarchical: it's about emperors, presidents, prime ministers, and field marshals. It's about states, armies, and corporations. It's about orders from on high. Even history "from below" is often about trade unions and workers' parties. But what if that's simply because hierarchical institutions create the archives that historians rely on? What if we are missing the informal, less well documented social networks that are the true sources of power and drivers of change?
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2 out of 5 stars
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Not his best by a long chalk: Read Steven Pinker.
- By David on 02-05-18
By: Niall Ferguson
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Empire
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- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 15 hrs and 13 mins
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 124
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 111
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The British Empire was the largest in all history: the nearest thing to global domination ever achieved. The world we know today is in large measure the product of Britain's age of empire. The global spread of capitalism, telecommunications, the English language, and the institutions of representative government - all these can be traced back to the extraordinary expansion of Britain's economy, population, and culture from the 17th century until the mid-20th. On a vast and vividly colored canvas, Empire shows how the British Empire acted as midwife to modernity.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not Balanced till Conclusion
- By Hectoris on 08-13-20
By: Niall Ferguson
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Doom
- The Politics of Catastrophe
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- Narrated by: Niall Ferguson
- Length: 16 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 483
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 402
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Disasters are inherently hard to predict. Pandemics, like earthquakes, wildfires, financial crises. and wars, are not normally distributed; there is no cycle of history to help us anticipate the next catastrophe. But when disaster strikes, we ought to be better prepared than the Romans were when Vesuvius erupted, or medieval Italians when the Black Death struck. We have science on our side, after all.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Get through the first chapters
- By David on 05-23-21
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High Financier
- The Lives and Time of Siegmund Warburg
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- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 17 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 72
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 48
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In this groundbreaking new biography, based on more than 10,000 hitherto unavailable letters and diary entries, best-selling author Niall Ferguson returns to his roots as a financial historian to tell the story of Siegmund Warburg, an extraordinary man whose austere philosophy of finance offers much insight today.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A gem, if you are interested in these topics
- By Philo on 09-22-14
By: Niall Ferguson
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Civilization
- The West and the Rest
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- Narrated by: Niall Ferguson
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,328
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,986
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,968
The rise to global predominance of Western civilization is the single most important historical phenomenon of the past five hundred years. All over the world, an astonishing proportion of people now work for Western-style companies, study at Western-style universities, vote for Western-style governments, take Western medicines, wear Western clothes, and even work Western hours. Yet six hundred years ago the petty kingdoms of Western Europe seemed unlikely to achieve much more than perpetual internecine warfare. It was Ming China or Ottoman Turkey that had the look of world civilizations.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Thoughtful analysis of the ascendancy of the West.
- By Patrick on 05-25-13
By: Niall Ferguson
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The Great Degeneration
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- Narrated by: Paul Slack
- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 308
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 260
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5 out of 5 stars
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Superb as always!
- By Ivanhoe on 08-28-17
By: Niall Ferguson
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The Square and the Tower
- Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Elliot Hill
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,018
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 878
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Story4 out of 5 stars 871
Most history is hierarchical: it's about emperors, presidents, prime ministers, and field marshals. It's about states, armies, and corporations. It's about orders from on high. Even history "from below" is often about trade unions and workers' parties. But what if that's simply because hierarchical institutions create the archives that historians rely on? What if we are missing the informal, less well documented social networks that are the true sources of power and drivers of change?
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2 out of 5 stars
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Not his best by a long chalk: Read Steven Pinker.
- By David on 02-05-18
By: Niall Ferguson
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Empire
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 15 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 124
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 111
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 111
The British Empire was the largest in all history: the nearest thing to global domination ever achieved. The world we know today is in large measure the product of Britain's age of empire. The global spread of capitalism, telecommunications, the English language, and the institutions of representative government - all these can be traced back to the extraordinary expansion of Britain's economy, population, and culture from the 17th century until the mid-20th. On a vast and vividly colored canvas, Empire shows how the British Empire acted as midwife to modernity.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not Balanced till Conclusion
- By Hectoris on 08-13-20
By: Niall Ferguson
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Doom
- The Politics of Catastrophe
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Niall Ferguson
- Length: 16 hrs and 35 mins
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 483
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 402
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 399
Disasters are inherently hard to predict. Pandemics, like earthquakes, wildfires, financial crises. and wars, are not normally distributed; there is no cycle of history to help us anticipate the next catastrophe. But when disaster strikes, we ought to be better prepared than the Romans were when Vesuvius erupted, or medieval Italians when the Black Death struck. We have science on our side, after all.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Get through the first chapters
- By David on 05-23-21
By: Niall Ferguson
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High Financier
- The Lives and Time of Siegmund Warburg
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 17 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 72
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 48
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Story4 out of 5 stars 48
In this groundbreaking new biography, based on more than 10,000 hitherto unavailable letters and diary entries, best-selling author Niall Ferguson returns to his roots as a financial historian to tell the story of Siegmund Warburg, an extraordinary man whose austere philosophy of finance offers much insight today.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A gem, if you are interested in these topics
- By Philo on 09-22-14
By: Niall Ferguson
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The House of Rothschild, Volume 1
- Money's Prophets: 1798-1848
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Alexander Adams
- Length: 28 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 262
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 229
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 227
In his rich and nuanced portrait of the remarkable, elusive Rothschild family, Niall Ferguson uncovers the secrets behind the family's phenomenal economic success. He reveals for the first time the details of the family's vast political network, which gave it access to and influence over many of the greatest statesmen of the age. And he tells a family saga, tracing the importance of unity and the profound role of Judaism in the lives of a dynasty that rose from the confines of the Frankfurt ghetto and later used its influence to assist oppressed Jews throughout Europe.
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3 out of 5 stars
-
Great research, poor narrative
- By Amaze on 04-30-19
By: Niall Ferguson
-
Lords of Finance
- The Bankers Who Broke the World
- By: Liaquat Ahamed
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,655
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,258
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,266
It is commonly believed that the Great Depression that began in 1929 resulted from a confluence of events beyond any one person's or government's control. In fact, as Liaquat Ahamed reveals, it was the decisions made by a small number of central bankers that were the primary cause of the economic meltdown, the effects of which set the stage for World War II and reverberated for decades.
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4 out of 5 stars
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interesting insight into interwar period!
- By Toru on 11-27-09
By: Liaquat Ahamed
-
Kissinger: Volume I
- 1923-1968: The Idealist
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 34 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 260
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 230
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 229
No American statesman has been as revered and as reviled as Henry Kissinger. Once hailed as "Super-K" - the "indispensable man" whose advice has been sought by every president from Kennedy to Obama - he has also been hounded by conspiracy theorists, scouring his every "telcon" for evidence of Machiavellian malfeasance. Yet as Niall Ferguson shows in this magisterial biography, the idea of Kissinger as the ruthless arch-realist is based on a profound misunderstanding.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Riveting
- By Jean on 11-10-15
By: Niall Ferguson
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The Price of Time
- The Real Story of Interest
- By: Edward Chancellor
- Narrated by: Luis Soto
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 280
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 234
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 234
In the beginning was the loan, and the loan carried interest. For at least five millennia people have been borrowing and lending at interest. Yet as capitalism became established from the late Middle Ages onwards, denunciations of interest were tempered because interest was a necessary reward for lenders to part with their capital. And interest performs many other vital functions: it encourages people to save; enables them to place a value on precious assets, such as houses and all manner of financial securities; and allows us to price risk.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Big landscape in time and subjects; Austrian view
- By Philo on 08-29-22
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The History of Money
- By: Jack Weatherford
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 550
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 397
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 398
From primitive man's cowrie shells to the electronic cash card, from the markets of Timbuktu to the New York Stock Exchange, The History of Money explores how money and the myriad forms of exchange have affected humanity, and how they will continue to shape all aspects of our lives--economic, political, and personal.
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2 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting annecdotes, but very biased reporting
- By Dean on 10-13-11
By: Jack Weatherford
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Kissinger
- 1923-1968: The Idealist
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 33 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 126
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 114
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 114
Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Kissinger: The Idealist by Niall Ferguson, read by Roy McMillan. No American statesman has been as revered and as reviled as Henry Kissinger. Hailed by some as the 'indispensable man' whose advice has been sought by every president from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush, Kissinger has also attracted immense hostility from critics who have cast him as an amoral Machiavellian - the ultimate cold-blooded 'realist'.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent narrative & narrator
- By William Tutt on 10-10-17
By: Niall Ferguson
-
Debt - Updated and Expanded
- The First 5,000 Years
- By: David Graeber
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,791
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,200
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,186
Here, anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom: He shows that before there was money, there was debt. For more than 5,000 years, since the beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods - that is, long before the invention of coins or cash. It is in this era, Graeber argues, that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Transformative to the point of being revolutionary
- By James C. Samans on 08-14-16
By: David Graeber
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Devil Take the Hindmost
- A History of Financial Speculation
- By: Edward Chancellor
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 349
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 285
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 284
Devil Take the Hindmost is a lively, original, and challenging history of stock market speculation from the 17th century to the present day. Edward Chancellor traces the origins of the speculative spirit back to ancient Rome and chronicles its revival in the modern world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Well-picked scenes span tulips up to 20 years ago
- By Philo on 03-07-19
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A Monetary and Fiscal History of the United States, 1961-2021
- By: Alan S. Blinder
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 59
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 59
Alan Blinder, one of the world's most influential economists and one of the field's best writers, draws on his deep firsthand experience to provide an authoritative account of sixty years of monetary and fiscal policy in the United States. Spanning twelve presidents, from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden, and eight Federal Reserve chairs, from William McChesney Martin to Jerome Powell, this is an insider's story of macroeconomic policy that hasn't been told before—one that is a pleasure to listen to, and as interesting as it is important.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Listen for Nixon's Sake
- By Tricia on 10-26-22
By: Alan S. Blinder
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The Wealth and Poverty of Nations
- Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor
- By: David S. Landes
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 21 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 46
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
The Wealth and Poverty of Nations is David S. Landes' acclaimed, best-selling exploration of one of the most contentious and hotly debated questions of our time: Why do some nations achieve economic success while others remain mired in poverty? The answer, as Landes definitively illustrates, is a complex interplay of cultural mores and historical circumstance.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A detailed explanation
- By Kaarlis on 12-07-21
By: David S. Landes
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This Time Is Different
- Eight Centuries of Financial Folly
- By: Carmen Reinhart, Kenneth Rogoff
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 494
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 315
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 310
Throughout history, rich and poor countries alike have been lending, borrowing, crashing - and recovering -their way through an extraordinary range of financial crises. Each time, the experts have chimed, "this time is different" - claiming that the old rules of valuation no longer apply and that the new situation bears little similarity to past disasters. This book proves that premise wrong.
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2 out of 5 stars
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necessary piece to understand the current crisis
- By D. Littman on 12-04-09
By: Carmen Reinhart, and others
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Money
- The Unauthorized Biography
- By: Felix Martin
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 130
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 114
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 112
From ancient currency to Adam Smith, from the gold standard to shadow banking and the Great Recession: a sweeping historical epic that traces the development and evolution of one of humankind’s greatest inventions.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Difficult to imagine how it could be worse
- By J. M. Batista on 09-19-17
By: Felix Martin
What listeners say about The Ascent of Money
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 10-13-18
Financial History - Clear and simple
If you’re interested in understanding finance, this is a helpful read on our financial history. It marches through time reviewing and explaining major events from thousands of years ago all the way to today. The premise was highly informative and relevant, but not necessarily too complex. It’s a very informative history of finance - nothing more, nothing less.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- CJFLA
- 01-02-12
Informative book; too many author opinions
Any additional comments?
The author offers an interesting profile, literally, of the history of money. Tracing its historical 'development
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- wbiro
- 12-23-17
Covers Money and Finance
I thought this book was straying away from the history of money proper and into international and national finance instead (then I reread the title).
The best sections for me were the sections I was least informed in - the speculation games that stock, real estate, and currency speculators play (personally I pictured clueless beasts who, being clueless, had nothing better to do, and who thought they were being clever). I did enjoy the history of money - it complimented the other books I've listened to by covering different ground with different anecdotes with different perspectives.. No one book on the topic will cover everything adequately. This book made a good contribution.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Sam Motes
- 10-02-13
Decent book on money policy history
I enjoyed Ferguson's Civilization more but this was still a good read on the history of money and money policy up to the depths of the financial crash of 2008.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Audible Customer
- 11-07-18
Need to know!
To understad todays economy system and how it effekt us all. Also to see the one sided view of money as the only important tving. How we are brainwashed!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 01-05-17
Very good book.
I love history, but my new favorite is the history of money. very interesting stuff.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Ryan
- 03-12-13
A good overview of financial concepts and history
Would you listen to The Ascent of Money again? Why?
Sure, it was an interesting listen. Makes you a bit more aware of all the background of the financial world.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Ascent of Money?
Not really sure if there was a "memorable" part, but the accounts of how leveraged people and cities become in the past and the rates at which returns are given is a bit mind-boggling.
What does Simon Prebble bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
I think there's a continued interest in listening to books like this rather than reading them. Sometimes the concepts on paper don't seem as interesting as someone vocalizing it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Walter CS
- 10-05-22
good work and summary
like a poet trapped in his own words and phrases, this must be deciphered to be understood by the non_intellectuals. perhaps he author could ask a friend to put simply each chapter into a page without the flowers and wallpaper (grin)
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- stephen taylor
- 06-23-22
Very insightful
I have only one complaint for this work. There was not enough. Excellent overview of the rise of the banking industry. I would love to see a follow up that includes the reaction of government in the aftermath of 2008, the rise of crypto and the breakdown of global trade in the aftermath of Covid.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kevin
- 10-21-23
Must read historical text
This book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the evolution of capitalism and the role it has played in shaping modern geopolitics
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