Cover art for Money and Promises
Published
Bloomsbury, August 2024
ISBN
9781804542804
Format
Hardcover, 304 pages
Dimensions
23.4cm × 15.3cm

Money and Promises Seven Deals that Changed the World

3 IN STOCK
Ships Friday 22nd!
Fast $7.95 flat-rate shipping!
Only pay $7.95 per order within Australia, including end-to-end parcel tracking.
100% encrypted and secure
We adhere to industry best practice and never store credit card details.
Talk to real people
Contact us seven days a week – our staff are here to help.

In the twelfth-century, Pisa was a powerhouse of global trade, a city that stood at the centre of Medieval Europe. But Pisa had a problem. It was running out of coins. In the face of a looming financial crisis, the city's rulers and its moneylenders forged a deal that laid the foundations of the modern state and of present-day banking.

In Money and Promises, the distinguished banker and scholar Paolo Zannoni examines the extraordinary relationship between states and banks. He draws upon seven case studies: the republic of twelfth-century Pisa, seventeenth-century Venice, the early years of the Bank of England, Imperial Spain, the Kingdom of Naples, the nascent USA during the American Revolution, and Bolshevik Russia in 1917-21. Spanning a multitude of countries, political systems and historical eras, Zannoni shows that at the heart of our institutions lies an intricate exchange of debt and promises that has shaped the modern world.

Featuring pioneering research and original insights, this authoritative yet accessible book explores the vital relationship upon which our financial and political systems still depend.

Related books