Popes and Bankers: A Cultural History of Credit and Debt, from Aristotle to AIG by Jack Cashill



Jack Cashill's Popes and Bankers: A Cultural History of Credit and Debt, from Aristotle to AIG is, in most cases, an entertaining, fast-paced dash through the history of debt and lending.

Negatives:

It is correctly subtitled "A Cultural History of Credit & Debt, From Aristotle to AIG" because it is simply "a" history. It is not definitive, in any way. It is simply one part of a much larger story. Popes & Bankers focuses on Western Culture, especially Italy, England, Germany, France, Holland and the United States. Nary a mention of Asia, Africa, or even the Muslim world - I found only one passing comment about sharia banking. Cashill ignores nearly a billion people who follow a religion that outlaws usury.

Cashill also ignores post-Marx Europe.

Cashill covers lots of topics here, but has no index.

Ignoring these topics creates as many questions as he attempted to answer in this book.

Positives:

Cashill has an approachable, easy-to-read style. If you have even a notional grasp of European and American history you should be able to follow along. Zero level of economics knowledge is required (but of course would be helpful).

Cashill liberally acknowledges his sources and I was able to identify three authors I would like to check out.

Cashill's description of our current home mortgage induced financial crisis is quite good.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

Reviewed June 29, 2010.

Comments

Popular posts over the last 30 days

MARCH: BOOK ONE (graphic novel) by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin

FAHRENHEIT 451 (audiobook) by Ray Bradbury

VANISHING EDGE (National Parks Mysteries #1) (audiobook) by Claire Kells

TIRED of WINNING: DONALD TRUMP and the END of the GRAND OLD PARTY (audiobook) by Jonathan Karl

BASS REEVES: TALES of the TALENTED TENTH, no. 1 by Joel Christian Gill

THE JOURNEY in BETWEEN: THRU-HIKING EL CAMINO de SANTIAGO (Thru-Hiking Adventures book 1) (kindle) by Keith Foskett

DARK of the MOON (Virgil Flowers #1)(audiobook)(abridged) by John Sandford

DIFFER WE MUST: HOW LINCOLN SUCCEEDED in a DIVIDED AMERICA (audiobook) by Steve Inskeep

INCREDIBLE HULK: PLANET HULK written by Greg Pak, illustrated by Carlo Pagulayan, Aaron Lopresti, Juan Santacruz, Gary Frank, and Takeshi Miyazawa.

THE MAGA DIARIES: MY SURREAL ADVENTURES INSIDE THE RIGHT-WING (and HOW I GOT OUT) (audiobook) by Tina Nguyen