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A History of Gold and Money: 1450-1920
For much of human history, the motive force behind war, conquest, social conflict and world exploration has been the drive to acquire gold. From the ancient world of Croesus to the wealthy dynasties of Renaissance Italy, from the earliest European explorations into Africa, America, and Asia to the gold rushes of the nineteenth century and the banking crises that lay beyond them, Pierre Vilar depicts the awesome power of avarice to structure the world in which we live. The insidious power of gold and money is the subject of this enlightening and entertaining history.
The age of exploration brought an influx of treasure into Western Europe, prompting disputes between theologians and early economists over the causes of inflation in the sixteenth century. In time, American silver distorted metropolitan Spanish society beyond recognition. Vilar goes on to examine the roots of the modern banking and financial systems in institutions founded in Holland, England and France during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. And in the nineteenth century, the gold rushes of Australia, California and South Africa generated new modifications in the international monetary system.
Vilar concludes the story of these developments with a discussion of the crisis of the 1920s that, in the wake of the world credit crash of 2008, is more pertinent than ever. A History of Gold and Money provides a unique work of synthesis on the role of money in modern economic history.
The Verso World History Series : This series provides attractive new editions of classic works of history, making landmark texts available to a new generation of readers. Covering a timespan stretching from Ancient Greece and Rome to the twentieth century, and with a global geographical range, the series will also include thematic volumes providing insights into such topics as the spread of print cultures and the history of money.
The age of exploration brought an influx of treasure into Western Europe, prompting disputes between theologians and early economists over the causes of inflation in the sixteenth century. In time, American silver distorted metropolitan Spanish society beyond recognition. Vilar goes on to examine the roots of the modern banking and financial systems in institutions founded in Holland, England and France during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. And in the nineteenth century, the gold rushes of Australia, California and South Africa generated new modifications in the international monetary system.
Vilar concludes the story of these developments with a discussion of the crisis of the 1920s that, in the wake of the world credit crash of 2008, is more pertinent than ever. A History of Gold and Money provides a unique work of synthesis on the role of money in modern economic history.
The Verso World History Series : This series provides attractive new editions of classic works of history, making landmark texts available to a new generation of readers. Covering a timespan stretching from Ancient Greece and Rome to the twentieth century, and with a global geographical range, the series will also include thematic volumes providing insights into such topics as the spread of print cultures and the history of money.
360 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
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About the author
Pierre Vilar
65 books7 followersHistorien moderniste et hispaniste français, spécialiste de l'histoire de la Catalogne
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 18, 2020
vilar wants to look at monetary supply dialectically, which means that there are significant parts of the book, whole chapters even, given over to repudiating the book that one would think one was getting from the title, to get one away from the idea that gold or circulation played a determinative role in any political or economic sense. this means that this is a pretty decent introduction to early modern european politics, but not much of a history of gold and money. an odd one!
January 5, 2018
A thorough introduction to monetary history, ideal for the non-economist who possesses some knowledge of the debates that continually reappear in monetary theory. 'A History of Gold and Money' was written just before the United States officially left the gold standard, and it is especially interesting to review Vilar's insights and findings in light of the changes that the world economy has undergone in the last fifty years. It's disappointingly easy to get caught up in the excitement and paranoia that attends an age of worldwide fiat and bitcoin booms; Vilar's 'History' is sure to be appreciated by the reader who values the long view.
Those curious about his methodology will perhaps be glad to know that Vilar pushes back against the vulgar monetarism that has so often dominated the writing in this field. His dialectical framework attempts to account for the complex interactions between money, commodities, and psychological factors, resisting any single unilateral explanation. As an aside, we would also note that his findings are broadly compatible with, if not reducible to, the Marxian conceptions of money and value.
Those curious about his methodology will perhaps be glad to know that Vilar pushes back against the vulgar monetarism that has so often dominated the writing in this field. His dialectical framework attempts to account for the complex interactions between money, commodities, and psychological factors, resisting any single unilateral explanation. As an aside, we would also note that his findings are broadly compatible with, if not reducible to, the Marxian conceptions of money and value.
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April 26, 2025Fine- sometimes quite dull when it would dive full on into precise figures for coin production and metal composition of coins and the like, and then it would whip back into something very interesting by discussing labor conditions in the Mexican mines or how political economy influenced the money trade in different centuries.
December 18, 2024
Super dry and far from exciting
May 10, 2025
There are some parts of this book which are written in a very 'Continental manner' ie. broad-brush theorising without either analytical rigour or emperical evidence.
March 22, 2020
La exploración, el "descubrimiento", los debates teológicos y económicos. Un gran gran libro en torno a los metales preciosos y la manera en que el saqueo, genera también nuevos sistemas financieros y bancarios modernos. Instituciones fundadas en Holanda, Inglaterra y Francia durante los siglos XVII y XVIII. Y en el siglo XIX, las fiebres del oro de Australia, California y Sudáfrica generan nuevas modificaciones en el sistema monetario internacional.
November 3, 2013
Monetaristički pogled na svjetsku ekonomiju od ranog novog vijeka do 20. st. Koliko je novac u gospodarstvu zapravo važan?
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews