A History of Money: From Ancient Times to the Present Day - Tapa dura

'...many fascinating historical perspectives are contained in this highly readable, new history of money' - The Financial Times' ' ... a masterful examination ... It's a helter-skelter ride through history, swooping and touching on civilization and how they did business, funded their treasuries and paid their servants including armies ...' World Money Laundering Report, Vol 15, No 1, 2004 'Davies writes with a sparkling wit, and his prose is elegant and flowing...This excellent work will be useful to economists, political scientists, and even anthropologists.' Choice '...if you are a numismatist looking for a book that will explain the economy then this is it...all I can say is Highly Recommended.' Sacra Moneta 'An erudite, well researched and comprehensive book.' Banking World '...a thoroughly good read...' Economic Journal

This is a straight-forward accout of the central importance of money in the ordinary business life of different peoples throughout the ages from ancient times to the present day. In the first half of the book, money consists mainly of physical commodities, especially coins. In the second half, abstract forms of credit, mainly paper, predominate, culminating in the prospect of universally acceptable, electronically transferable forms of money. The author demonstrates that the supply of money tends to alternate in every age between too little and too much, with the pendulum swinging from excessive concern with the quality of money to the opposite extreme of an inflationary, excessive quantity of money.