"Since the emergence of debit and credit cards, many of us pay little mind to our finances and hardly think of money anymore. But currency, whether by cash or debit, is the driving force of our lives. We use it to feed ourselves and our loved ones, buy or rent a place to live, buy clothing and other necessities, and pay for transportation from one location to the other. We trust the system, even though we don't fully understand it. With History of Money: Financial History: From Barter to "Bitcoin" - An Overview of Our: Economic History, Monetary System, & Currency Crisis you'll learn all the basics including: how and why money replaced the barter system in much of the world, what commodities served as currency before modern money was invented, how banking and money evolved alongside each other, why and how money plays a role in the world's major conflicts, about the rise and fall of the Gold Standard, what money, and debt, actually is and how it's created and measured, about the emergence of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, a wealth of trivia and fun facts about money. This book is more than a history book. You'll also learn a few fun facts along the way such as how the Knights Templar helped develop the modern banking system and why the island of Yap used giant donut-shaped stones as currency." - back cover