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The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession - Paperback | Diverse Reads

The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession

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"The need for realism in reform of its monetary system is what makes Bernstein's story of the Power of Gold so timely. It is a compelling reminder that maintaining a fixed price for gold and fixed exchange rates were difficult even in a simpler financial environment....Peter Bernstein was reluctant to project the story of gold into the future. But to me his message was clear. Yes, gold will be with us, valued not only for its intrinsic qualities but as a last refuge and store of value in turbulent times. But its days as money, as a means of payment and a fixed unit of account are gone."
--From the New Foreword by Paul Volcker

This bestselling book reveals a record of human nature in the ubiquity of gold with a new foreword by Paul Volcker

In this exciting book, the late Peter L. Bernstein tells the story of history's most coveted, celebrated, and inglorious asset: gold. From the ancient fascinations of Moses and Midas through the modern convulsions caused by the gold standard and its aftermath, gold has led many of its most eager and proud possessors to a bad end. And while the same cycle of obsession and desperation may reverberate in today's fast-moving, electronically-driven markets, the role of gold in shaping human history is the striking feature of this tumultuous tale. Such is the power of gold.

Whether it is Egyptian pharaohs with depraved tastes, 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.

  • Discusses the beginnings of gold as something with magical, religious, and artistic qualities and follows its trail as we progress to the invention of coinage, the transformation of gold into money, and the gold standard
  • Other bestselling books by the late Peter Bernstein: Against the Gods, Capital Ideas, and Capital Ideas Evolving
  • Contemplates gold from the diverse perspectives of monarchs and moneyers, potentates and politicians, men of legendary wealth and others of more plebeian beginnings

    • 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.

    ISBN-13: 9781118270103

    Media Type: Paperback

    Publisher: Wiley

    Publication Date: 04-10-2012

    Pages: 448

    Product Dimensions: 5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.40(d)

    The late Peter L. Bernstein was President of Peter L. Bernstein, Inc., an economic consulting firm for institutional investors he founded in 1973, after many years of managing billions of dollars in individual and institutional portfolios. Bernstein was also the author of ten books on economics and finance, including the bestselling Capital Ideas, Capital Ideas Evolving, and Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk. His writing combines the zest of a historian with the meticulous analytical powers of an economist.

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    What People are Saying About This

    Steve Jones

    This book is a noble treatment of the most noble of elements. The Power of Gold is a brilliant and unexpected tale of three thousand years of a metal as virtual reality.
    —(Steve Jones author, Darwin's Ghost: The Origin of Species Updated)

    Roger G. Kennedy

    Hats off! We are in the presence of a master . . . to read with such delight in its manner as to pass too quickly over the subtlety of its understanding and the astonishing width and depth of Bernstein's knowledge.
    —(Roger G. Kennedy Director Emeritus, National Museum of American History)

    David Pitt

    If all the gold ever mined in the history of the world were collected in one place, it would weigh about 125,000 tons. That's not a whole lot, when you consider that people have been mining gold as long as there has been civilization (there are more than 400 references to gold in the Bible). Gold is not very plentiful (it costs a small fortune just to mine the stuff), it's incredibly heavy (a cubic foot weighs half a ton), and it's so soft that you can't do anything practical with it. How, then, did it get to be so darn popular? That's the question Bernstein addresses in this utterly fascinating book. Its not a history of gold itself-there are histories of banking for that, he tells us-but a chronicle of the power and the mystique of gold. What is it about human beings that makes us turn a useless, hard-to- come-by metal into the object of desire, into some- thing we wear, into a symbol of power and wealth? Is it our ability to make gold do anything we want that makes us do anything we can to get it? Never has there been a more enlightening, instructive, and entertaining look at the power of this most precious of metals.

    From the Publisher

    "Bernstein...gives us a multifaceted depiction of the powerful pull gold has...his grasp on things financial...is firm, and he's admirably adept at explaining them."
    —New York Times Book Review

    Pierre Keller

    . . . a fascinating story . . . wittily written, and full of original insights . . . Peter Bernstein has once more written a brilliant book, both highly instructive and entertaining.
    —(Pierre Keller former senior partner, Lombard Odier & Cie, Geneva)

    John Kenneth Galbraith

    Admirably written . . . a wonderfully interesting view—not alone of gold but of the greater economic history. Like other of his work, it is assured of a wide readership.
    —(John Kenneth Galbraith Professor of Economics Emeritus, Harvard University)

    Paul A. Volcker

    The story of gold-in all its splendor and mythology, its fascination for individuals and nations alike. . . . Peter Bernstein is up to the challenge. His spritely exposition is a fine read even as it makes us think and reflect.
    —(Paul A. Volcker, Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve)

    Table of Contents

    Foreword ix

    Acknowledgments xiii

    Prologue: The Supreme Possession 1

    A Metal for All Seasons

    1. Get Gold at All Hazards 9

    2. Midas’s Wish and the Creatures of Pure Chance 18

    3. Darius’s Bathtub and the Cackling of the Geese 38

    4. The Symbol and the Faith 52

    5. Gold, Salt, and the Blessed Town 66

    6. The Legacy of Eoba, Babba, and Udd 74

    7. The Great Chain Reaction 85

    8. The Disintegrating Age and the Kings’ Ransoms 96

    9. The Sacred Thirst 114

    The Path to Triumph

    10. The Fatal Poison and Private Money 135

    11. The Asian Necropolis and Hien Tsung’s Inadvertent Innovation 158

    12. The Great Recoinage and the Last of the Magicians 175

    13. The True Doctrine and the Great Evil 198

    14. The New Mistress and the Cursed Discovery 219

    15. The Badge of Honor 239

    16. The Most Stupendous Conspiracy and the Endless Chain 260

    The Descent From Glory

    17. The Norman Conquest 283

    18. The End of the Epoch 306

    19. The Transcending Value 328

    20. World War Eight and the Thirty Ounces of Gold 346

    Epilogue: The Supreme Possession? 367

    Notes 373

    Bibliography 397

    Index 409