David McWilliams gives an entertaining account of the history of money, and manages to make it informative as well as interesting. A gifted writer and a very intelligent man, this was definitely worth the read. I enjoyed his insights.

An excellent world-history through the lens of how finance and money (not necessarily the same thing, McWilliams argues persuasively) have been large factors in most historical. Again and again he showcases that there is a wide space between what economists write down on paper as the logical plan and projection for the money - and then all the crazy, emotion based decisions humans make when it comes to money.

From ancient debit and credit marks on sticks that pre-date agriculture to today's cryptocurrency, human events have always swirled around the idea of money.

McWilliams covers everything, and shows how it all connects, from debts in Rome leading to a printing press being put to a revolutionary use by Martin Luther, to a stock slump in railroad shares leading to Darwin's <i>On the Origin of the Species</i>, to a WWII POW camp leading to new theories of economics, and more.

I loved getting an outsider (McWilliams is Irish) examination of America's history of finance, as he both praises decisions post-Revolution to embrace federalism, while also dragging Burr and Hamilton across the coals for letting emotion get in the way of being rational.

A useful read to see how we do the same thing over and over again, no matter how we dress it up with new nouns, this is a fascinating history.

McWilliams has this knack for taking something that sounds like it could be a snooze-fest and actually making it fun to read. The History of Money is a great read if you’re curious about why money is the way it is but don’t want to slog through a textbook. McWilliams makes it engaging, funny, and just the right amount of nerdy.

This is a nice quick and entertaining grand history book on the evolution of money. What it lacks in depth, it provides in entertaining anecdotes and stories which make this a fun read.