100 books like The Grip of Death

I really loved this book!

Desan’s work filled multiple gaps in my knowledge regarding the historical circumstances that contributed to modern money.

In my view, it is the best and most comprehensive book for anyone who wants to know how we arrived at current monetary arrangements. The research and writing are masterful, comprehensive, and there are many ‘oh my, I didn’t know that’ moments. 

A real eye-opener and an essential read for anyone interested in money, finance, and the emergence of capitalism.

Easily the best and most authoritative book since Dickson’s The Financial Revolution In England – a must-read!

I would argue that the history of capitalism is also the history of money.  You can’t understand one without the other. 

The Currency of Empire is masterfully written and researched.

Why I loved this book so much is not only because it filled many gaps in my knowledge of the history of money in the United States, but also that it has a keen focus on political power and the different interests among the colonists and England. 

If you want to understand how money and monetary systems are created within relations of power this book is essential for you. Another must-read that should not be missed.

Gold has fascinated humanity for a considerable swathe of history, and it continues to do so today.

I saw this book online and immediately had to get it. I already knew that the creation of modern money as debt was fundamentally rooted in war and geopolitics, but I did not know the extensive history of how gold and war were interconnected over 500 years. 

I think that this is a captivating study for anyone who is interested in the links between war, gold, and geopolitical capitalism. 

A fascinating and essential read for explaining how we arrived at where we are today. 

This book was a real eye-opener and can be considered seminal across the social sciences for its breadth and depth of analysis on money. 

I loved this book because it filled so many gaps in my knowledge. I was drawn to it because I once asked my professor how new money was generated and he said he knew but he forgot. 

This made me think that money might not be all that important to understanding capitalism. Alas, I was dead wrong of course and returned to my question years later.

That’s how I found Professor Ingham’s book. I still have comprehensive notes from his work and consult them regularly. 

This book is essential for anyone who wants to understand the past and present of money. 

Out of all my recommendations, this book is the most dense in terms of detailed descriptions of the history of debt. The author needs to be specific since he’s challenging the economic establishment’s false claims.

The most telling example is that there’s no evidence that barter led to exchanging goods in a marketplace. Debt, not barter, was the original economic system for trade in a village. 

War became the catalyst for the creation of currency since soldiers couldn’t afford to wait till after the war concluded for the government to pay its debts.

If you’re curious about the real history of money and debt, this is the book for you.

This is a best-selling personal finance book that offers a step-by-step plan for getting out of debt, building wealth, and achieving financial freedom.

The book provides practical advice and strategies for managing money, reducing expenses, and increasing income.

What sets this book apart from others in the personal finance genre is Ramsey's no-nonsense approach to money management. He offers straightforward advice and actionable steps that are accessible to anyone, regardless of their financial situation or background.

Overall, The Total Money Makeover is a highly recommended read for anyone looking to take control of their finances and build a more secure and fulfilling life. Ramsey's practical advice and motivational tone make this book a must-read for anyone seeking financial freedom.

An apropos warning about the inevitable collapse of all empires that live beyond their means.

Wrought with historical references to past collapsed empires including the Roman and British, understand how the US is going down the same destructive path as the previous empires.

This book also explains how the high standard of living in the US and other Western economies is sponsored by the poorer, harder-working Asian countries that make something of value.

Issuing massive amounts of debt and printing money to pay for it isn’t a sustainable way to run an economy.

Yes, that Margaret Atwood!

The one whose book, The Handmaids Tale is targeted by book banners. This one is more subversive, covering money from every angle—religious, historical, literary, ecological, and psychological—not limited to the economic perspective. She provides a fascinating dive into money’s nature in five short chapters that transcribe a series of entertaining lectures she gave on Canadian radio.

If you’ve ever wondered why so many words related to money (redemption, debt jubilee, balance) have religious overtones, she explains why. She’ll help you to understand the relationship between Saint Nick, patron saint of thieves and pawnshops, and that other red-suited (and sooted) Old Nick who also keeps track of who’s been naughty. As they say, “time compounds all debts” but “death pays all debts.”  

It is my favorite book on the nether side of money—debt.

This is one of my all-time favorite books! It was given to me by my nephew Kareem, in 2018. I have read it cover to cover, twice. My handwritten notes are on over 50% of the pages. 

The research that Baradarian put into this book is unparalleled. The book is chockful of facts and data that I never knew about Black history. For example, her research uncovered the fact that the forty acres of land that were to go to the 4 million formerly enslaved Black people after the Civil War was to be sold, not given to Blacks at $1.25 per acre. 

This book is filled with an abundance of typically unknown data, as she admirably tells the history of Blacks in America, through the Black banking industry’s chronicles. 

In the spirit of full transparency, my love for this book preceded the 2019 interview that I did of Baradarian… show more.

Jeffrey Sklansky is that rare academic with a writer’s literary imagination, which serves the reader well in engaging The Soul’s Economy, a riveting and dense intellectual history of the market’s emergence as the organizing principle of not only economic life, but of a distinctly new moral sensibility between 1820 and 1920. 

Sklansky explores this far-reaching turn of events through a series of dedicated readings of America’s leading philosophers and pundits of the times, ranging from Ralph Waldo Emerson to John Dewey, who collectively recast the pursuit of wealth into an ethic of personal rectitude and even the source of society’s general welfare.