very interesting and unique

the books presents some very new insights about money and debt, that i was absolutely unaware of. Definately a must read/hear for anyone interested in the history of money and economy.

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Very eye-opening

Damn, humans were (and are) brutal. It’s pretty mindblowing how much of it was fueled, facilitated and justified with debt and was not possible without it.

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Marvelous explanation of fundaments of economy

Inspired work to better understand economy, its history and a path to a better future

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Insightful, interesting, tendentious and ludicrous

The book has it all. Even without tendentious and ludicrous parts the book still earns my five stars.

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Makes so much sense

This book is great because it gives you what you need to start understanding economy, money and what we actually need money/debt for in a society.

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Eye-opening and thought provoking

As is usual for Graeber's work, this book is dense in information and sometimes a bit challenging to wrap your head around. But it brings up questions and ideas that are important for our society as a whole, maybe more now than when he wrote it.

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Great historical perspective

After the introduction I was afraid that the whole book will have a political overtone, but I was pleased to find that not to be the case (except for the last chapter and introduction).

David Graeber provides the great historical arc of debt and money all the way back to Mesopotamia 3000 BCE. It is shown how these concepts are deeply intertwined with cultural, religious and moral beliefs, as well as war.

Great book for anyone, there is no particular background knowledge required.

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3 Leute fanden das hilfreich

Astonished how fascinating!!

A book about debt and money systems should be a heavy narcotic.. not so here.. this was fascinating!! In actuality it’s a story of humanity and human interaction.. highly recommended to all!!!

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4 Leute fanden das hilfreich

Re-imagine...

"There is a shape to the past, and it is only by understanding it that we can begin to have a sense of the historical opportunities that exist in the present." - David Gaeber

After "the collapse of our collective imagination", the author has undertaken the bold enterprise to unleash our visions: setting the 2008 historical break into perspective by composing a history of money and economy - on the broadest historical scale, as a history of credit and debt across 5 millennia. While economists get caught up in mathematical models, "arranging data around equations", and historians - due to lack of evidence - often treat institutions of social life in ancient times as non-existent, the anthropologist is less shy to develop a grand narrative with large rhythms and long durée.

The history of money is more than "a history of coinage" - credit arrangements simply do not leave physical traces. Nonetheless, they were prevailing, as Graeber demonstrates by diving deep into the earliest written records. He puts the "myth of barter" to final rest. The assumption that barter came before coins was the pillar of liberal and neoliberal thought and has for a century been contested against by ethnologists, while being copy-pasted in all introductions to economy.

Market and Economy, though, are not the same thing, and markets do not spring up by divine providence. Graeber raises big questions and dismantles moral discourses about debt and credit to put them into a wider context - the entanglement of military-coinage-power complexes, the role of administration, bureaucracy and religion in various different cultures and regions of the world; equality versus inequality, and the unsettling parallels of wage labour to slavery.

Indeed, a general history of economy can only be a history of morality. Graeber is not the first to combine historical insight with ethnology, but the level, depth and broadth of discussion is outstanding. How are debt, work, money, growth and the economy really linked together? Is economy really separable from other spheres of social life? What's the impact of money on social life? How come we have arrived at the point where we are? This book offers a moral reassessment which nourishes our mutilated sense of possibilities. It is extremeley refreshing and empowering to begin to understand the context of conditions today and to perceive of oneself as a historical actor, since yes: history isn't over...

The most thorough book I have ever read about the origins of money, extremely thought-provoking.
I have enjoyed this mental journey. Coming from the ancient history department, I fully embrace David Graeber's approach of a grand narrative, his work highlights the impact of history for understanding the PRESENT.

Grover Gardner's performance is engaging and helped me to better grasp the contents by his vivid interpretation, his voice puts the text to life.

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Unexpectedly great

Different mind changing perspective on debt. Much appreciated book that will give you a new view on how debt originated and links to war, slavery, freedom and love and this connects to modern live.

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