Buy used: $17.12

$18.99 delivery July 17 - 27. Details

Used: Very Good | Details

Sold by awesomebooksusa

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Add to List

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 2 images

Follow the Author

Peter L. Bernstein

The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession Illustrated Edition

by Peter L. Bernstein (Author)

4.2 85 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Audible Audiobook, Abridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

$7.95 with discounted Audible membership

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$19.31

$12.00

$1.49

Hardcover, October 15, 2004

$17.12

—

$4.99

Paperback

"Please retry"

$25.75

$11.76

$3.16

Audio CD, Abridged, Audiobook

"Please retry"

$12.79

—

$10.00

Audiobook
$0.00 Free with your 3-Month Audible trial
Hardcover
$17.12

13 Used from $4.99
Paperback
$19.57 - $25.75

46 Used from $3.16 3 New from $11.76
Audio CD
$12.79

3 Used from $10.00

There is a newer edition of this item:

The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession
$17.49
(77)
In Stock.

Incorporating myth, history and contemporary investigation, Bernstein tells the story of how human beings have become intoxicated, obsessed, enriched, impoverished, humbled and proud for the sake of gold. From the past to the future, Bernstein's portrayal of gold is intimately linked to the character of humankind.

ISBN-10

0470091002
ISBN-13

978-0470091005
Edition

Illustrated
Publisher

Wiley
Publication date

October 15, 2004
Language

English
Dimensions

8.75 x 1 x 11.72 inches
Print length

304 pages
See all details

Highest ratedin this set of products
Peter L. Bernstein
77
Paperback
$17.49
$16.92 shipping
Lowest Pricein this set of products
Matthew Hart
168
Paperback
$11.29
$15.59 shipping
This item:
Peter L. Bernstein
85
Hardcover
13 offers from $4.99

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

This absorbing epic begins with the magical, religious and artistic significance of gold, progressing to the invention of coinage, the transformation of gold into money and eventually to the gold standard. The more important gold became as an economic tool, the more loudly it spoke of power - even more loudly than when it served as an entry to Heaven or a symbol of omnipotence. Finally, the book confronts the future of gold in a world where it appears to have been relegated to the periphery of financial sector.
From the Bible, through 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 money makers, potentates and politicians, men of legendary wealth and others of more plebeian beginnings: from Asia Minor's King Croesus, Rome's noted speculator Crassus, and Byzantine emperors, through Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus Francisco Pizarro, Richard I, Charlemagne and Isaac Newton to the Forty-Niners, Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, John Maynard Keynes and Richard Nixon.

Whether it is Egyptian pharaohs, 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, 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.’

From the Back Cover

In this lavishly illustrated work Peter L. Bernstein tells the story of one of mankind’s most intoxicating obsessions: gold. It has been both an inspiration and a destroyer, determined the fate of kings and emperors, inspired the most beautiful works of art, provoked extreme cruelty and driven men to endure intense hardship. From the ancient fascination of Moses and Midas through the gold rush, to modern financiers, gold has led many of its most eager and proud possessors to a tragic end. The gold they thought they possessed came to possess them. Such is the power gold.

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.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wiley; Illustrated edition (October 15, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0470091002
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0470091005
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.55 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.75 x 1 x 11.72 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,524,016 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,975 in Business Finance
- #2,044 in Money & Monetary Policy (Books)
- #8,129 in Folklore & Mythology Studies

Customer Reviews:
4.2 85 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Peter L. Bernstein

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Peter L. Bernstein's nine books include the worldwide bestseller Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk. Bernstein is also an economic consultant and publisher of Economics and Portfolio Strategy, a semimonthly letter for institutional investors.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5

85 global ratings

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Metallurgist

Interesting and very timely - 4.5*

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 28, 2011

Verified Purchase

While this book was written in 2000, it is a very timely read. With gold going for about $1600 a troy ounce, it is important to understand the importance of gold as a store of value and as money, or as the backing for paper money. The history of gold is a fascinating one, full of twists and turns, which this book tells is a very interesting and far from dry manner. The book starts with the history of gold as jewelry, as a sign of wealth and power, and as a form of money, going as far back as the Egyptians and Lydian's, and then advancing to the Romans, the Middle Ages, the French and English of the 17th to 20th centuries and finally to gold in America. The focus of much of the book is on the Gold Standard and whether or not this is a good idea. The book presents both sides of the argument, namely that governments cannot be trusted to maintain a stable currency, but that while the gold standard can stabilize things it does so at the price of not being able to do much when the economy falters. The book provides a lot of examples that show that the Gold Standard is not a panacea and that even with the Gold Standard economies do falter, forcing governments to abandon it. This said, the book is not doctrinaire in its opposition to the Gold Standard and has a prescient warning for the future given on the last page of the book, namely, "Gold may again serve as the ultimate hedge in chaotic conditions. Its return to its traditional role as universal money is unlikely, however, unless the time should come when the dollar, the euro and the yen have all failed to function as acceptable means of payment across international boarders."

I learned a lot of interesting things from this book, for example:
1) An ounce of gold is a troy ounce, not the type of ounce that is generally used for weighing things.
2) A scarcity of gold for coins always seems to lead to debasement, or the devaluing of paper money that it is supposed to back.
3) I learned about the history of the Bank of England and how it served as a model for the First Bank of the Unites States.
4) The use of a bimetallic system (gold and silver as coinage, with a fixed exchange rate) is shown over and over again not to be viable.
5) I learned about the origin of the term "greenback" and the fact that they were still being printed until 1971.
6) I learned how gold influenced the world's economy and why many felt that they could not do without the Gold Standard, only to find out that they had to do without it.
7) The gold standard was deemed to be nothing short of ordained by the heavens, only to be abandoned when it constrained economic growth, only to be adopted again if inflation got out of hand.
8) I learned about the rise and fall of the price of gold in the 1980's

I liked this book and think that it has a lot to offer, but there a few negatives that prevented me from giving the book a five-star rating. There is not very much information on the banking in the early Unites States. The first and second Banks of the Unite States are just mentioned briefly, with the discussion of currency issues in the US only really beginning with the Civil War, but with very little information on the Federal Reserve System. My second concern is the presence of numerous minor errors. For instance, as a metallurgist I know that the statement that "gold does not mix with other metals" is completely false. I found other minor errors, so many that I was forced to verify things with a second source. I did not feel that these errors invalidated the arguments presented in the book, but I read this book as a source for information for a lecture that I was presenting, so accuracy was more critical than if I had just been reading this book casually. I sense that the book lacked comprehensive editorial control and a good fact checker. My final concern is that the book was written in 2000, before the explosion in the price of gold. This is a very important event, which except for the quotation mentioned above, could not be discussed in a book written in 2000. Nonetheless, the book does give an important historical reference from which to consider this price explosion, the future course of the price of gold and the effect of this price explosion may have on the world's economy.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Interesting Nuggets, But Not 24 Carats

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 25, 2003

Verified Purchase

Peter Bernstein has written an overview of the relationship between money and gold throughout the centuries. This book serves up many interesting stories of gold and its service as money or as a financing instrument. In this, the book entertains. However, I found it to be somewhat disjointed as it moved from place to place and time to time chasing the illustrious metal as it assumed its different forms in kingdoms and nations far and wide.
My sense after finishing the book was that it was somewhat incomplete -- and that the author could not precisely focus on what the books focus was. While he mentions the twin uses of gold -- both as money and adornment throughout the book, almost all of the tales and statistics are relating to monetary gold. Also, for much of the latter half of the book, his focus is on the development of banking and financial instruments -- and their replacement of gold as a medium of exchange and a source of finance. Perhaps a better title would have been "Money through the Ages" or something that reflected the breadth of the journey the reader takes while stopping briefly at various historical events involving gold, coin, money, banking, minting and finance.
Not to say that the book isn't informative or interesting for the most part -- it is. I learned many new anecdotes and information from the author -- much of it fascinating. For example, the "Great" Kublai Kahn printed money that was backed by his will only, centuries ago. And it worked; apparently fear of not accepting the Kahn's paper was enough to make it a working medium of exchange. The Bank of England resisted machine minting with raised edges for years after the technology was available, even though the country was losing a fortune to clippers and shavers of hand stamped coin. West Africa was long a source of gold to Europe across the Sahara via long camel caravans and in barter on the coast (where the local custom was that Europeans would bring goods they thought appropriate to a place and then leave. The Africans would then take the goods and leave an amount of gold -- neither side ever seeing the other in the ultimate "hand-shake" deal). For centuries, Europe was frustrated in not discovering the location of the mines. One also reads of the Spanish gold caravans, the California and Klondike Gold Rushes, the era of nations moving gold from one vault to the next in the same New York bank to settle balance of payments and Nixon's abandonment of a gold tie to the dollar in the early 1970's.
It is interesting to see how completely wedded to gold some governments became, particularly in the late 1800's early 1900's. England, and other nations, were willing to see millions become unemployed rather than change the exchange rate - a position that sent Winston Churchill into his period of dormancy in the 1920's. FDR shocked the establishment - particularly if unsurprisingly Herbert Hoover, by setting gold at $35 dollars and ounce. In fact, the last third of the book relates story after story of smart men who were thought to absolutely understand the crucial relationship of gold to the money of their nation - and how almost all of them saw their policies produce completely the reverse of what they desired. For more than 100 years, the money men of Europe and the United States believed an unchangeable gold standard was the only route to growth and prosperity. The one astute observer, if contrarian, was Benjamin Disraeli, who observed in 1895 that "Our gold standard is not the cause, but the consequence of our commercial prosperity." His observation fell on deaf ears, only to be illustrated as possibly the right relationship after the turmoil of the 1920's and the Great Depression forced countries to begin to unhitch their currencies from absolute and unchanging values as measured in gold.
All of the information and stories are somewhat loosely tied together. Although it is apparent to the reader that the central point to the book is how money developed and gold's role in the various systems, I don't think the author traced the development as well as one might have or drew conclusions that would have made this interesting collection of stories into one story. Maybe I expected to much from an author who developed the story of insurance and risk better in his work "Against the Gods," but I thought this had a more thrown together feel.
Most of the information is interesting and even fascinating in some places. All in all, it is a decent survey of gold, money and the development of finance if one is interested in the topic.

19 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Nathik

An Euro-centric Keynesian History of Gold

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on August 14, 2017

Verified Purchase

Gold is a chemically inert, oxidation malleable and high density metal. This rare metal is paradoxically found across all continents.

Ancient World:

The Ancients(Egyptians, Jews to Romans) adored gold but as a display of wealth not as money. The demand for gold drove the demand of mining. Mining is a labor intensive process and this facilitated slavery.

Bimetallism:

King Croesus(595BC) was the first to establish gold as coin/medium of exchange via state. He annulled private issuance of electrum and called all outstanding coins and minted gold & silver coins to the old. Bimetallism is seldom stable as changing supply of metal overtime causes the values to change. Croesus maintained a ratio of 10:1.

Persians and the Romans:

Persians expanded the practice of gold coin mintage and influenced gold to be accepted as the popular form of money and collect tax in gold instead of wheat/rice. The expanding roman empire experienced the shortage of gold.Shortage lead to the below.
1. Living with insufficient supply makes demand fall short and downward pressure the price aka Depression.
2. Importing gold via plunder/trade
3. Debasing currency

Constantine (337BC) used new 98 % pure gold coins "Solidus" as his conquest eastward brought him gold. This was officially the widely accepted form of money. Made gold as the only accepted medium of exchange.

Middle-Ages:

The Arabs dominated and outsmarted their competitors in trade and established monopolies in Africa & this gave them access to West African Gold. Africans traded gold to salt. Salt was their primary money because of its scarcity.

Reconquista and Atahualpa:

Portuguese and Spaniards paved way for discovery of the new world. When the Spaniards arrived to South America, they invited The King of Incas Atahualpa to their quarters. Atahualpa naively accepted & he was taken hostage. Once the ransom for paid & the kingdom fell, the spaniards sentenced him to death for idolatry & adultery. Atahualpa was baptised in the honour of St. John for a quick and painless death. Mining became a serious business. Under the spaniards, the merciless labor was devastating to the natives. The death rate was so high that many africans slaves had to be imported.

Spain & Gold:

With Gold flowing back to Spain, Spain failed to become rich. The Expulsion of Jews & Muslims removed the merchant class & the scientific community. High consumption & no production along with rigid structure of society ultimately led to Price revolution of 16th Century.

Asians:

Asia is hardly discussed in the book which is a huge drawback. Asians understand gold was too important to be traded as money. So they used copper & brass as medium of exchange in place of gold. The word Cash for ready liquid money is Tamil word. Hien Tsung(821AD), due to severe shortage of copper, used sheet of paper for money.

Magic Mint & New Rulers:

In 1661, Charles II of England issued an order in council mandating manufacturing of coins by machinery in-place of hammer. The new coin, guinea, equal to £1 about 8 grams or 1/4 of an ounce. In 1697, Bank of England was established as the 1st private company to do business as limited liability company in exchange for £1.2 million loan with 8% interest.

New Bank system and First Crisis:

Three forms of money were used in Britain.
1. Government minted gold coins
2. Bank Notes from BoE and other private banks
3. People deposited gold to goldsmith and got receipts.
Fear of French invasion provoked citizens to encase bank notes for gold. This resulted in Bank Restriction Act of 1797 .

Gold Rush:

The 19th Century Gold rush in Australia, California and South Africa made establishment of international gold standard possible & had the opposite effect of Price Revolution from 16th Century.

WW1 & its effects:

According to the writer, Gold standard was a symptom of stability and not the cause. Post WW I ,National debt swelled by multiples of 1914 for all. Each country owed many to many of its citizens. Allies ended up in debt to the US upto $2 Billion. France, Italy, Russia owed $500 Million to UK, The total holding of UK, France and Germany in gold was $2 Billion. Gold Standard was suspended as a result, To bring to Gold standard means higher interest rate. High interest rate means subdued business activity which in turn means higher unemployment. Higher employment keeps wages in check which keeps price in check. The gold standard of 1925 was passed subsequently.
Banking Act of 1933 prohibits hoarding of gold and silver coins and required all public to surrender the gold coins/bars. The currency which broke from gold standard devalued. The price of gold went up & price of goods & services fell down substantially.

WW2 & its effect:

After WW2, many countries were in shambles & currencies debased. In Germany, cigarettes & nylon stocking were preferred payments. USD become the only currency convertible to gold(by central bankers, national treasuries and not private individuals). USD became the preferred mode of payment over gold as it was easy convertible and earned interest. Inflation was the only vulnerability of USD.

Nixon shock:

Vietnam war, budget deficit, unemployment contributed to inflation. Nixon removed the gold standard in 1971. Floating currency system was established. This soared the price of gold & made it a hedge against chaos, inflation & uncertainty.

This is an erudite account on the history of Gold. However, it has few drawbacks. Asia's role, impact & narrative conspicuously missing. The writer takes a Keynesian approach to narrate the history of the gold instead of taking views from all school of thoughts. It is implicit from his writing that he's skeptical of gold as store of value or medium of exchange. However he is very inconclusive in his take on Gold & its role(if any) in 21st century. Highly recommended still!

One person found this helpful

Cafe Red Sky

自分と他人の欲望をコントロールすることは難しい。

Reviewed in Japan 🇯🇵 on January 10, 2009

Verified Purchase

紀元前４０００年から現代にいたるまでの金を巡る人間の欲望の歴史です。おもしろい、示唆に富むエピソードが盛りだくさんです。金とかお金に興味が面白いと思います。

ニュースでは、日々のマーケットが上がった下がったと騒いでいますが、長い歴史の目で見ると、日々の動きは大したことないです。金の価格の変動を予想するのは不可能のようです。ただし、いつか大きく値が上下することは歴史が証明しています。

J.S.ミル曰く、「金にふれても怪我はしない。だが、もし手について離れないようなら、金は骨まで傷つける」。

人の命に比べたら、金の価値が小さい。これを忘れた人間のなんと多いことか。金に群がる人々は、アホである。

1980年のある二日間で、金の価格は、110ドルから634ドルに跳ね上がった　(p.450)。

自分と他人の欲望をコントロールすることは難しい。

キーワード：J.P.モルガン

7 people found this helpful

Translate review to English

"rekisidaisuki"

知らないんだったら書かなきゃ良いのに

Reviewed in Japan 🇯🇵 on May 21, 2003

Verified Purchase

欧米に関する記述は非常に面白いし、そこだけ読んでいる分には良いんですけどね。止せば良いのにわざわざ１章立てて、アジアのことなんか書くもんだから、こちら方面の歴史は植民地時代の子供用歴史書程度の知識しかないことがばれてしまう。曰く、アジアには言うほどの貨幣制度はなかった、１７世紀にアジアに銀が大量に流入したが単に隠匿されただけで、何の役にも立たなかった云々。江戸時代の日本で、西の銀本位、東の金本位という２つの貨幣制度が共存していたなんて高校の教科書にも出るような常識だし、１７世紀の中国の経済発展が大量の銀の流入によりファイナンスされたってのも、かなり常識になっているはずですけどねー。元々完全な歴史じゃないって断っているんだから、知らないことは書かな㡊??ゃ良いのに、惜しい。（実際イスラム圏に関する記述は一言もないんだから）

30 people found this helpful

Translate review to English

Tiernan

Great read, a history on the yellow glittering metal

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 6, 2013

Verified Purchase

Great book, the author explains in detail how this metal, Gold, has influenced humanity since the beginning, from Ancient Lydian's (the first people to use coins) to The Royal Mint in London under management of the genius Sir Isaac Newton to the dispute over the Gold Standard more recently. Its obviously not a FULL history of Gold because such a book would take a century to write and weight around a ton but it does give great insights into how Gold has lead many great men, women and indeed even Empires to their doom due to their obsession with Gold and its power and the image it gives to those who obtain and display it, an image that continues to provoke admiration and, of course, envy, even to this present day. This glittering, rare, yellow metal has driven tens of millions to their deaths due to slavery, wars, conflicts and battles in order for it to be obtained and there's more to it than meets the eye. Highly recommend this book, great read.

See all reviews

Follow the Author