false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173126844m/249245.jpg 249245 4 In the first chapter of his book <I>The Power of Gold</I>, Peter Bernstein quotes the immortal words of King Ferdinand of Spain, who once declared: "Get gold, humanely if possible, but at all hazards--get gold." As ensuing chapters reveal, man's obsession with finding, keeping, selling, and evaluating gold has rarely been a humane adventure and has always been a hazardous one. Digging deeply into history's treasury of torrid tales and complicated deals, Bernstein examines gold's lure with an economist's passion for quantification, a historian's eye for detail, and a sociologist's feel for its consequence.<p> Useless as a metal for most practical purposes, gold originally held value as decoration and adornment for the wealthy ancients. Later, it was minted and used as coins by the Lydians in 635 B.C. That, Bernstein goes on to reveal, put gold on a path from the concrete to the abstract, from evidence of wealth to the standard behind wealth in other forms, and finally to the tenuous place it holds in today's virtual world of credit cards and computer chips. Along the way lie wild stories of lives destroyed, fortunes won and quickly lost, and values transformed: the massacre by the Spanish invader Pizarro, whose small band of men decimated the formidable army of Emperor Atahualpa, "the Inca," through more duplicity than military skill; the roller-coaster ride of the 1890s, when the rippling impact of the Baring Brothers bank crisis in Britain sent the isolated United States into an economic meltdown; and the surplus of the Gold Coast natives of Timbuktu, who willingly traded their gold for much-needed salt, ounce for ounce.<p> Bernstein is a great storyteller. His accounts of mythological, ancient, and recent history ooze with odd and entertaining details that bring each successive tale of obsession to life. If not for his skill, the sheer volume of events collected here--presented more anecdotally than systematically--would be overwhelming. In the end, though, it is Bernstein's fascination with the power of gold to entangle and entrap its possessors, and its ultimate ability to change the course of entire eras and civilizations, that makes his book as fascinating as it is informative. A dense but entertaining read. --<I>S. Ketchum</I> 241507 2000 The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession total:43|5:6|4:22|3:13|2:1|1:1| 43 160 76 9 4 1 false false Mon Apr 02 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Apr 02 08:45:42 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 03 14:43:21 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Aug 12 05:22:08 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 05:31:51 -0700 2009
Bernstein's book is a great read. Hopefully I'll have time to write a more extensive review ...more...]]> 3 0 false true Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 08 10:40:43 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 16 23:14:30 -0700 2009 1 Against the Gods and decided to read this as well. Thinking that risk is boring and gold is badass, I decided this book would be great. It is a good book, not a great book.

It's definitely not a page turner. I picked it up and put it down numerous times and it took ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Dec 16 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 24 22:23:39 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 16 13:10:27 -0800 2008
Instead, the author focuses on economic decis...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Mar 13 16:49:14 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 13 16:49:40 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Wed Jan 28 16:52:16 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 28 16:53:21 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Sun Apr 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 01 06:33:18 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 12 18:41:04 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon Aug 13 09:22:56 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 13 09:25:23 -0700 2007
(This means you Guy.)]]> 4 0 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 01 06:09:21 -0700 2007 Wed Dec 26 10:24:53 -0800 2007 3 0 false false Mon Nov 16 02:52:19 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 16 02:52:19 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Mon Nov 09 18:47:10 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 09 18:47:10 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Wed Oct 28 20:14:07 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 20:14:57 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Oct 20 12:55:08 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 12:55:08 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Oct 16 09:26:42 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 16 09:26:42 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Wed Sep 30 08:49:43 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 30 08:49:43 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Jul 20 17:58:48 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 20 17:59:08 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jul 17 02:04:43 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 17 02:04:43 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Jul 01 09:21:45 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 01 09:21:47 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Jun 21 11:06:39 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 21 11:06:39 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Jun 14 12:38:20 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 12:38:20 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=249245