Exploring the critical role of finance over the millennia, and around the world, Goetzmann details how wondrous financial technologies and institutions--money, bonds, banks, corporations, and more--have helped urban centers to expand and cultures to flourish. And it's not done reshaping our lives, as Goetzmann considers the challenges we face in the future, such as how to use the power of finance to care for an aging and expanding population.

Part I. From cuneiform to classical civilization -- 1. Finance and writing -- 2. Finance and urbanism -- 3. Financial architecture -- 4. Mesopotamian twilight -- 5. Athenian finance -- 6. Monetary revolution -- 7. Roman finance -- Part II. The financial legacy of China -- 8. China's first financial world -- 9. Unity and bureaucracy -- 10. Financial divergence -- Part III. The European crucible -- 11. The Temple and finance -- 12. Venice -- 13. Fibonacci and finance -- 14. Immortal bonds -- 15. The discovery of chance -- 16. Efficient markets -- 17. Europa, Inc. -- 18. Corporations and exploration -- 19. A projecting age -- 20. A bubble in France -- 21. According to Hoyle -- 22. Securitization and debt -- Part IV. The emergence of global markets -- 23. Marx and markets -- 24. China's financiers -- 25. The Russian bear -- 26. Keynes to the rescue -- 27. The new financial world -- 28. Re-engineering the future -- 29. Post-war theory.