Matthew Hart has reported on gold and diamonds for Vanity Fair, The Atlantic Monthly, The Wall Street Journal, the London Times, and many other newspapers and magazines. He was a contributing editor of the New York trade journal Rapaport Diamond Report. His award-winning book Diamond: the History of a Cold-Blooded Love Affair was translated into six languages and made into a four-hour dramatic miniseries starring Sir Derek Jacobi and Judy Davis. His latest book Gold: the Race for the World鈥檚 Most Seductive Metal was adapted into a National Geographic TV special. He has traveled from the Arctic to Angola in pursuit of diamond stories. He once found a puff adder in his room, but not since moving to New York City.
A good book when you're looking for a light, low-stress non-fiction read. The twelve chapters tell twelve largely independent stories about the history, geology, politics, and economics of gold.
What I didn't like:
1. Many times during the book the author says something that gives me the impression he's just now learning about all of this stuff himself too. Which just doesn't give the non-fiction reader much confidence. I felt like I knew more about some of the information covered than he did. What did he get wrong that I don't know about?
2. One-sided presentation of some topics, like the value of gold as a monetary standard or as a financial hedge.
What I did like:
1. My favorite parts of the book were the parts about the geology of gold - where can you find it, why there, how did we find it? The discussion of "invisible gold" diffused within porous rock is especially fascinating.
2. I liked the politics and history stuff too, although it was often sad (the unbelievable corruption in China and parts of Africa, the treatment of the Incas under Pizarro, etc.).
From BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week: From the Pizzaro brothers, who pillaged Peru for Inca gold in the 16th century, to the modern-day Mponeng mine in South Africa, the deepest in the world, where the ghost miners illegally siphon off millions - the pursuit of gold has led to wars, insurrections, betrayals and bloodshed.
Matthew Hart charts a course through history and across continents to tell the story of the world's most coveted metal. Part history, part journalism and part economic analysis, Gold tells the story of a human obsession that shows no sign of abating.
In 2008, when the financial crisis rattled economies, investors inevitably resorted to the perceived safety of gold 鈥� and its price escalated from $800 to $1900 an ounce. This, in turn, accelerated the exploration for yet more gold.
Matthew Hart is a journalist, whose work has appeared in The Times, Granta, The Atlantic Monthly and The Globe and Mail. He has written two IMAX films, numerous TV documentaries, and appeared on CNN, Sixty Minutes and the National Geographic channel. His previous books include Diamond: The History Of A Cold-Blooded Love Affair, which was filmed as a documentary by ABC.
Abridged by Pete Nichols
Producer: Karen Rose A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4
An interesting book that only hints at the seductive nature of gold on the human mind. It touches points in history where gold fever ripped apart civilizations and how it is doing that today.
I see the book as an overview into the mystique of gold. Why do we value it so? Why do miners keep pulling it out of the ground? Gold has only a few industrial & scientific uses, many only within the last 10-15 years. But gold has captivated people for thousands of years. In some societies it was used for adornment or decoration (such as the Incas). Others it was a store of value (Europe or China). Even today, the markets trade it, but it still has an aura of exotic and mystery about it.
The author spends time at the gold mines and with the financial traders trying to understand what gold does to modern society. In such a short book, he can only touch on some points and hint at others.
For me, I learned that there were Chinese and Vietnamese influences in Incan gold art. This was mentioned in a single sentences, along with how a thousand years of culture was melted down by the Spaniards. I'm fascinated by the native cultures of the Americas, for they were much more advanced than anything in the world at the time. I want to see how much further this thread moves as to how southeast Asia and the Pacific side of South America interacted.
I also learned about the rich civilizations found in the interior of Africa. Now I want to find history books that detail the life and times of these advanced cultures before the Europeans destroyed them in their thirst for gold.
So a good overview that will act like a prospector map to other interesting history that you may never have thought existed.
As somebody with a not insignificant position in precious metals, this was a fairly instructive book for me.
My bet on metals was, as Hart explains at a certain point in the book, a hedge against the the inherently instability of the current monetary system.
The problem is that, while it is an effective hedge, it still carries no inherent value besides what people give it. Or, as Hart says at one point, what you are realistically able to redeem in a moment of crisis. If the economy collapses in a moment, precious metals are only worth what you can get for them: effectively nothing.
Where Hart succeeds is in really fleshing out the story of what that gold means and where it comes from. He digs into everything from African gold mining, to the move away from the gold standard in the Nixon era, to ancient attitudes toward and methods for extracting gold.
He also delves more into the existence of the paper gold market than I imagined he would, and he makes a strong case for the fact that ETFs have bumped gold off its reserve status. Because paper gold is so easy to trade (especially given the wildly irrational amount of trading on the market relative to the actual reserve of gold in the world), it's little more than any other commodity at this point.
It's made me reconsider my stance on metals a little bit, though perhaps not enough to move away from the positions I already have.
In all, though, this is a really great primer. When you can tie abstract financial instruments to brutal tribal violence in the Congo, I think you've done your journalistic due diligence.
I found this to be a fairly interesting read. He looks a bit at the history of how gold was used by other past cultures in an artistic way, or in a sacramental way, and then how it was used as a store for wealth and sought by European explorers. He explains how the dollar became the world's reserve currency and at what point the dollar was removed from the gold standard. He travels all over the world to gold-mining sites (which all sounded rather hellish). When economic times seem insecure, investors often turn to gold as a safe place to store wealth, but he raises questions about that. [In speaking with a South African gold executive:]
"With consumables, it's easy to judge price," he said. "If one pair of shoes costs $200 and another pair $300, you compare them and make your choice. If you want a bond, you compare interest rates. But if you decide to buy gold you pay the spot price. There is no reference, no other thing like it to compare it to." He had studied at the Wharton School and had managed funds at a Swiss bank. "My whole life as a businessman I have struggled with questions of value". he said. "It's easy for me to engage in negotiations about value when there's a reference point. But what's the reference point with gold?" ....Except for a few practical uses, gold is a notional construct. It has no meaning but its price. (pages 226-227)
This is a very thorough treatment of this precious metal and was quite informative.
Reading this book made me go back to my college days regarding the gold standard and government monetary policy :-)
This is a really good book on one of the world's precious metals. The author discussed gold's importance to the world economy, the history of why it became important and then on to people and government's attempts to mine it.
Matthew Hart writes with flair and wit and it is actually an entertaining read especially the part where the story took him to various gold mines in China, Africa and South Africa.
this is a fascinating microhistory that starts and ends in Africa. the beginning with mass, large scale organized criminal mining turning skin grey is much more impactful than the anticlimactic ending on conflict mining and Chinese accumulation of mineral rights. in the middle are interesting reviews of gold as currency, the mysterious trading in gold today, the geology of gold, and more.
(I received the book for free through 欧宝娱乐 First Reads.)
Gold saving has always been one of smart investment alternative recommended by top 4% people; due to its continuous increasing value year on year, its characteristic, and its history for global monetary standard. Unlike diamond - which all about marketing gimmick,not an investment, and its price keep detriment with its age - gold is beneficial and competitive against the inflation.
There are many geeky gold words in this book, and many people names related to the race of this metal globally. I can feel the author鈥檚 gold 鈥榞eekiness鈥� from his writing style. A typical hard book for me, but there鈥檚 lay the challenge, as hard book will train your brain to think differently and become more creative.
One thing I learn during my struggle of reading hard book is having clear objective on why do I read the book help me so much to finish it, and this learning also applies for life in general.
An entertaining and enlightening read about gold鈥檚 role in human history - the wars waged, the blood shed and now the fraud committed (depending on who you believe). It also provides the views of both gold bugs and their sceptics in regard to gold鈥檚 current place in society. Is it a good hedge? The only true currency? Or simply just for doomsday preppers?
The writing style was easy to read - more of a historical narrative rather than anything too technical. It very briefly touches on the l workings of the gold markets - most interesting for me is learning that the London Bullion Market is the world leader by a country mile!
Will I have gold as a hedge to my assets? Minimally. Will I still buy gold? Of course! It鈥檚 in my blood ( 藰蠅藰 )
I loved this book. I got allot out of it, I learned just what I was expecting. I also liked the format, each essay was a proper length for a single reading session. Very entertaining and informative, historically, socially, economically and scientifically.
Not sure that I agree with his assumptions about the value of gold. A strong argument can be made that there is a de facto gold standard in the world. His world view is leftist but so many are. Worth the read for the insightful descriptions globally. Reading Bernstein next.
Hart is certainly not a goldbug. This is simply his journalistic account of man鈥檚 history with the yellow rock we call gold. For what it is, it is entertainingly written. I think I would have appreciated a little more in the way of economics and finance - but all in all, a good read.