What is money and how does it work In this tour de force of political cultural and economic history Felix Martin challenges nothing less than our conventional understanding of one of humankinds greatest inventions. Martin describes how the Western idea of money emerged in the ancient world and was shaped over the centuries by tensions between sovereigns and the emerging middle classes. Money he argues has always been an intensely political instrument and that it is our failure to remember this that led to the crisis in our financial system and the Great Recession. He concludes with practical solutions for making money serve usand in an introduction and epilogue new to this edition a discussion of what Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies mean for moneys future. From John Locke to Montesquieu from Sparta to the Soviet Union Money is a farranging and magisterial work of history and economics with profound implications for the world today. show more