Money is more than coins and bills—it is a complex human invention that has shaped civilizations, powered empires, and controlled societies for millennia. What Is Money?: A Human History of Debt, Delusion, and Domination traces the evolution of money from its ancient origins in ritual and grain to today’s digital currencies and shadow finance. This authoritative yet engaging account dismantles common myths, revealing how money functions not merely as a medium of exchange, but as a tool of social control, political power, and economic inequality.

Explore the birth of money beyond barter myths, its roots in tribal debts and sacred obligations, and the rise of metal coins stamped with imperial authority. Journey through the Roman fiscal crises, China’s paper money innovations, and the birth of modern banking with goldsmiths and central banks created to fund wars and imperial ambitions. Discover how the gold standard constrained nations, how the Great Depression shattered monetary orthodoxy, and how the postwar Bretton Woods system enshrined American economic dominance.

The book also investigates contemporary financial realities: the explosion of debt as the global system’s backbone, the rise of digital payments replacing cash, and the volatile world of cryptocurrencies—from Bitcoin’s anarchist promises to the sprawling crypto circus. Delve into offshore havens, shadow banking, hyperinflation disasters, and the growing power of surveillance capitalism shaping money’s future as programmable code.

With rigorous research and vivid storytelling, this book exposes money’s paradox: a source of both progress and exclusion, trust and manipulation. It challenges readers to rethink the meaning of money in a world where financial systems increasingly govern everyday life. For anyone seeking to understand how money molds power and society—and what it might become next—this is an essential guide.