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 report from the crime-ridden inferno of the world’s deepest mine, Hart traveled around the world to the sites of the hottest action in gold today, from the biggest new mine in China, to the highly secretive London gold exchange, and the lair of the world’s most powerful gold trader in Geneva, Switzerland. He profiles the leaders of the gold market today, the nature of the current boom, and the likely prospects for the future. From the earliest civilizations, 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. He ends by telling the story of the massive flows of gold that have occurred in the wake of the financial crisis and what the world’s leading experts are saying about the profound changes underway in the gold market and the prospects for the future.
“Compelling, stylish, and impressively researched” (The Boston Globe), Gold is a wonderful historical odyssey with important implications for today’s global economy.
Comment from readers
(1) I'm an academic who studies gold mining, so I was interested to read this book. It is an excellent overview of prospecting, gold mining, and gold markets. Hart moves easily between stories of his visits to gold mines and his interviews with financial experts. A major part of the book involves his retelling of the history of gold mining. Hart's prose is more than well-written, it is lively and at times epigrammatic ("gold mining is its own country"). It's impressive that he is able to explain heap leaching and gold hedging in terms that not only make sense to the nonspecialist, but actually makes these topics as interesting to us as they are to the engineers and financiers that make their living from them.
Its worthwhile to compare this book with Bernstein's "The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession," which is the other major popular book on the subject of gold. Bernstein's book is older, more widely read, and tells a much more conventional story of gold, with more attention to the history of gold. It is also reads like it was written by a committee and punched up by a consultant. Hart's story is much more up to date and much better told, and brings a welcome focus to the post-2008 world of gold (especially after 2008, when the gold radically increased in value). If you had to chose to read only one book on gold, I'd recommend Hart's book over Bernstein's.
That said, there are imperfections in this book. The book is clearly conceptualized and has an overarching narrative -- Hart wants to show us that our desire for gold is ultimately irrational, and leads to gold rushes (both geological and financial) that lead to dangerous and unpredictable outcomes for people caught up in them. Its a valuable lesson.
(2)Gold: The Race for the World's Most Seductive Metal by Matthew Hart is an amazing book about how this precious metal have driven man to commit conquest, murder, and international mayhem. The book shows the history of Gold; from the earliest civilizations over 6,000 years ago to now with emergence of China and their bid to collect as much of this precious metal as they can.
I very much enjoyed this book and have not put it down since I got it. This book is beautifully written and weaves an incredible story of how gold has affected not only us as individuals but it has created or destroyed whole civilizations. I think you will enjoy this book as much as I did.
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