PAUL VIGNA is an author, journalist, editor and speaker, with a particular focus on capital markets and cryptocurrencies. He is the author of Guts: The Anatomy of The Walking Dead and coauthor of The Age of Cryptocurrency and The Truth Machine. For 25 years, he was a reporter and editor for Dow Jones Newswires and the Wall Street Journal, pioneering coverage of the cryptocurrency sector. He has appeared on CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, Fox, and PBS.

"A compulsively readable interpretation of money, greed and debt."
--American Banker

"This is sure to spark debate."
--Publishers Weekly

"A thoughtful look at the role of money as religion's close companion over the course of human history."
--Kirkus

"Greed dominates the modern world. But where did our obsession with money and wealth come from? Does it represent the best possible way to run our lives? Or is there some better way? Anyone interested in these questions should read this book. Paul Vigna's reinterpretation of world history is original, compelling, and thought-provoking. The perfect read for our unstable times."
--Simon Johnson, 2024 Economics Nobel Prize winner and coauthor of Power and Progress

"A brilliant exploration of how our faith in money has shaped history and continues to define our world today. With his trademark clarity and insight, Vigna makes the abstract come alive, taking readers on a journey that's as engaging as it is enlightening."
--Kabir Sehgal, bestselling author of Coined

"Religion and money are society's two most powerful inventions. Both have tapped deeply into human imagination to play equal parts in the construction - and destruction - of civilizations. In this gem of a book, Paul Vigna takes us on a rollicking, 5000-year journey to show just how intertwined these two dangerous ideas have always been and what their past tells us about ourselves and our future."
--Michael Casey, co-author of Our Biggest Fight

"Vigna takes us on an enthralling guided tour through the origins and history of money, which is essential to improving our understanding of the pervasive role money plays in our lives today. This well-crafted and provocative book, replete with historical nuggets and rich insights, will not only entertain you but force you to reconsider the prominent role that the creation of money has played in unleashing forces, both good and bad, that affect our economies and societies."
--Eswar Prasad, Cornell University economics professor, Brookings Institution senior fellow, and author of The Future of Money