A Comprehensive Look at Debt Through the Ages: "Debt: The First 5000 Years"

Amazon Customer: The book filled all my expectations. I appriciate the service, looking forward to ordering in amazon de

Germany on Nov 27, 2023

Gordon Labedz: This book is about world history and how we wound up in the mess we are in.

United States on Oct 29, 2023

Amazon Customer: Graeber's way of distilling many branches of history and culture into something that makes sense to read and turn what could be a dry subject into something at once engaging and outrageous, is quite the talent. No course in business, finance, economics or history is complete if this book is not included in the curriculum.

United States on Sep 29, 2023

Arthur G. Yarish: For those readers who may not be professionals but who may like to get beyond the mainstream of lock step opinions this is a basic book which will help those interested in getting ahead of the professionals and learn more they know.
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Mexico on Jul 16, 2023

T. S. Currey: An eye-opening account of history that turns so many things on its head, I thought I was at Cirque du Soleil

Australia on May 19, 2023

Nick: Certainly my favorite book I've read this year. It must be said off the bat that it's amazing how dated (or maybe, incomplete?) the final chapter of the book feels now that 10 years have passed since it's original publication. At the time. Graeber's association with Occupy Wall Street would have been relevant; now Occupy has become so irrelevant it basically never existed. The context in which this was written reflects a time before the student debt crisis became one of the principle political issues in the US; a time before Trump, before ISIS, before Covid, before even Twitter of Facebook were even a thing (to Graeber's commentary about modern capitalism's effect of fostering a widespread hopelessness and inertia, these would surely be relevant). Obviously this is not a flaw with the book; it's just good grounds for Graeber to revisit.

I do disagree with some of his closing arguments about the present day, such as how capitalism is apparently obsessed with its own ending? The biggest proponents of neoliberal capitalism insist that it is in fact the final form of human relations (ex: "the end of history") so I'm not sure what Graeber was on about here. Same with his...

United States on Jul 14, 2022

Alessandro Perilli: The book is an exceptional study on the origin of money. However, the book is not about how coinage and cash and banknotes, and the infrastructures around them, evolved. Instead, it's a study on how the concept of money came to be, why, when, and how ancient societies managed to achieve the things that money achieves before money existed.

More importantly, it's a study conducted by an anthropologist rather than an economist or a historian. That offers a unique perspective that, to me, is significantly more reliable than anything written by the other two kinds of professionals.

It's is a gripping story and a must-read if you are passionate about history or economics. However, the book has an additional, unsupected value for a completely different category of readers.

At the time of writing this review, the mainstream audience worldwide starts to learn about cryptocurrencies based on blockchains, NFT-based economies, and many other related concepts that go under the umbrella term of "web3".
Among the many criticisms against cryptocurrencies, there are some about the lack of support from the government, the fact that they represent virtual money not pegged to...

United Kingdom on Jan 17, 2022

Imperial Topaz: Graeber's book is a long, slow read, yet it is a fascinating page-turner for which I enjoyed EVERY SINGLE PAGE. I would highly recommend this five-star book to anyone who enjoys investigating the mysteries of economics in our modern world and to anyone who enjoys history, sociology, anthropology, or looking for major historical trends which tie together and explain world events.

I saw a few critical reviews while reading this book, and now that I have finished, my opinion is that anyone who negatively reviews this book only read a portion of it. Most of the critical reviews are dismissive of his "point-of-view" as being "wrong." However, anyone who has actually read the whole book realizes that he has stepped back and looked at these issues from multiple perspectives and through the lens of multiple disciplines. People who are upset by this book (or by the introductory chapters) are upset because today's economics teaching focuses only on a small piece of the "economics thought pie" (my term) which is out there. Graeber steps out into discussing pieces which are less covered (or not covered at all) in typical economics classes in the West of today. So, rather than reading...

United States on May 21, 2017

Amazon Customer: Despite reading many of the reviews, this book was not what I was expecting. I thought the book was about economic debt... it’s not... it’s mainly about psychology of debt. The difference is subtle but interesting.
The book is written by an academic for academic philosophers. It’s not intended for the general public, but if you’re prepared to wade through all that heavy language you will not be disappointed.
The book is an enormous storeroom of information about social history as seen through the eyes of an anthropologist rather than a historian or an economist. Each reader will extract the bits most useful and ignore the rest.
For me the book was about tribal bartering arrangements – the origins of money – why money was created – what is the purpose of money – the psychology of debt as opposed to the economics of debt – why is it considered theft to charge interest on a loan?
The book will appeal to cynics who see a world run by evil greedy people and would like to undo the social brainwashing we endure while growing up.
The book is an eye opener. The book contains few facts – the conclusions drawn are mostly those of the author. Read and decide...

United Kingdom on May 20, 2015