About
The Story of Money Synopsis
A funny, philosophical book about the universal subject of money.
In the Yap Islands in the South Pacific it can be a stone with a hole in the middle. It can be a string of shells, a bundle of cloth or a copper slab. It's the stuff that makes the world go round. That doesn't grow on trees. That can't buy you love, apparently.In this fascinating and thought-provoking book, Martin Jenkins explores the history of money from its earliest beginnings to the electronic banking of today. Along the way we learn about hunter gatherers, barter, clay tablets, goat swapping, precious metals, hard bargains, IOUs, interest, coins, Romans, taxes, inflation, paper money, currencies and exchange rates. Satoshi Kitamura's quirky, satirical drawings perfectly compliment the dry humour of the text and in the end we are reminded that money only exists because we believe in it.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781406324587 |
| Publication date: |
22nd July 2014 |
| Author: |
Martin Jenkins |
| Illustrator: |
Satoshi Kitamura |
| Publisher: |
Walker Books Ltd an imprint of Walker Books |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Pagination: |
60 pages |
| Suitable For: |
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| Other Genres: |
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Press Reviews
Martin Jenkins Press Reviews
Martin Jenkins’ fascinating and lurid account examines the origins of this extraordinary human invention […] Satoshi Kitamura provides the comic-style illustrations making this suitable for young minds beginning to ask questions about difficult subjects. - Carousel
A funny, philosophical book about the universal subject of money, by award-winning writer Martin Jenkins. - The Bookseller Children's Buyer's Guide
Author
About Martin Jenkins
Martin Jenkins is an expert at presenting complicated subjects in entertaining and accessible ways to children. He has won several awards for his work.
He was born in Surrey in 1959 but grew up in Spain, Ireland and Kent. He attended Cambridge University as a scholar. A conservation biologist by trade, Martin worked full-time for ten years for World Conservation Monitoring Centre, writing about a range of conservation issues. Since 1990 he has worked freelance for organisations such as WWF and a number of UN bodies concerned with conservation and the environment. Martin's jobs have varied greatly: "I've been an orchid-sleuth in Germany, a timber detective in Kenya and an investigator of the chameleon trade in Madagascar."
Martin lives in Cambridge and London. Martin became involved with children's books when he was asked to advise on Walker Books' Animals at Risk series. Since then he has written several titles, including Emperor's Egg, winner of the Times Junior Information Book of the Year Award and Fly Traps! Plants that Bite Back, which was shortlisted for the same award. He has also retold Gulliver's Travels, winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal, and Don Quixote.
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