#15 in Economics
The Ascent of Money
- 448
- Pages
- about 8 h
- Reading time
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Our view
In “The Ascent of Money” Niall Ferguson turns the history of finance into a brisk, well-researched narrative. He follows money, credit and banking from early coinage to modern financial models and argues that poverty stems from a lack of financial institutions, not from their greed. Some readers find that central argument asserted more than demonstrated. Newcomers to the subject will meet unfamiliar terms, though the narrative carries them through.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World is a 2008 book by then-Harvard professor Niall Ferguson, and an adapted television documentary for Channel 4 (UK) and PBS (US), which in 2009 won an International Emmy Award. It examines the long history of money, credit, and banking.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.5 across 98 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 40% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Economics average of 7.8. That is how 7.8 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.1 | 16 | 16% |
| Google Books | 9.0 | 6 | 6% |
| Hardcover | 7.2 | 76 | 78% |
Frequently asked
How long is The Ascent of Money?
It has 448 pages — longer than 50% of the ranked books in Economics.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Economics — and a score of 7.8, the closest to this book.
