Synopses & Reviews
From the lost empires of the Sahara to today’s frenzied global gold rush, a blazing exploration of the human love affair with gold by the award-winning author of
Diamond.
Since the 2008 financial crisis, the price of gold has skyrocketed — in three years more than doubling from $800 an ounce to $1900. This massive spike kicked off an unprecedented global gold-mining and exploration boom, much bigger than the Gold Rush of the 1800s. In Gold, acclaimed author Matthew Hart takes you on an unforgettable journey around the world and through history to tell the incredible story of how gold became the world’s most precious commodity.
Beginning with a page-turning dispatch from the crime-ridden, dangerous inferno of the world’s deepest mine, Hart pulls back to survey gold’s tempestuous past. From the earliest civilizations, 6,000 years ago, when gold was an icon of sacred and kingly power, Hart tracks its evolution, through conquest, murder, and international mayhem, into the speculative casino-chip that the metal has become. On this spellbinding journey the reader will witness the Spanish plunder of the New World, a century of pillage that crushed the glittering Inca empire of the Andes and transferred its staggering wealth to Europe. Hart describes each boom and bust in gold’s long story, each panic and shock, with a masterful storytelling hand, leading the reader to the present day — to the London vaults that hold the multi-ton hoards of such shadowy investors as the American gold fund called “the Spider,” to the amazing gold-rich bamboo forests of eastern Senegal, and to the piratical carnival of theft that enlivens the world’s greatest gold-producing engine: China.
With writing described as “polished and fiery” (Publishers Weekly), Hart weaves together history and cutthroat economics to reveal the human dramas that have driven our lust for a precious yellow metal.
Review
"From deep within the gold mines of South Africa and China to corporate boardrooms, from miners and thieves to body guards and gold traders, Hart (Diamond, 2001) offers a fascinating look at the geology, geopolitics, and economics of gold."
Booklist
Review
"Hart's deceptively breezy book examines a simple mineral that the human mind has transformed into something so much more complicated."
Publishers Weekly (starred)
Synopsis
From the lost empires of the Sahara to today's frenzied global gold rush, a blazing exploration of the human love affair with gold by the award-winning author of Diamond.
From the lost empires of the Sahara to today's frenzied global gold rush, a blazing exploration of the human love affair with gold by Matthew Hart, the award-winning author of Diamond
In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the price of gold skyrocketed--in three years more than doubling from $800 an ounce to $1900. This massive spike drove an unprecedented global gold-mining and exploration boom, much bigger than the Gold Rush of the 1800s. In Gold, acclaimed author Matthew Hart takes you on an unforgettable journey around the world and through history to tell the extraordinary story of how gold became the world's most precious commodity.
Beginning with a page-turning dispatch from the crime-ridden inferno of the world's deepest mine, Hart pulls back to survey gold's tempestuous past. From the earliest civilizations, 6,000 years ago, when gold was an icon of sacred and kingly power, Hart tracks its evolution, through conquest, murder, and international mayhem, into the speculative casino-chip that the metal has become. Hart describes each boom and bust in gold's long story, culminating in the swift and startling emergence of China as the world's new gold titan. In writing that Publishers Weekly calls "polished and fiery," Hart weaves together history and cutthroat economics to reveal the human dramas that have driven our lust for a precious yellow metal.
About the Author
Matthew Hart is a veteran writer and journalist, and author of seven books, including the award-winning Diamond. His work has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Granta, the London Times, and The Financial Post Magazine. He was a contributing editor of the New York trade magazine Rapaport Diamond Report, and has appeared on 60 Minutes, CNN, and the National Geographic Channel. He lives in New York City.