Blood and Money, David McNally
Blood and Money, David McNally
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Blood and Money
War, Slavery, Finance, and Empire

Author: David McNally

Narrator: Tim Getman

Unabridged: 11 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/01/2020

Synopsis

Blood and Money tells the story of money as a history of violence and human bondage.In most accounts of the origins of money we are offered pleasant tales in which it arises to the mutual benefit of all parties as a result of barter. In this groundbreaking study David McNally reveals the true story of money’s origins and development as one of violence and human bondage. Money’s emergence and its transformation are shown to be intimately connected to the buying and selling of slaves and the waging of war. Blood and Money demonstrates the ways that money has “internalized” its violent origins, making clear that it has become a concentrated force of social power and domination. Where Adam Smith observed that monetary wealth represents “command over labor,” this paradigm shifting book amends his view to define money as comprising the command over persons and their bodies.

About David McNally

David McNally is the Cullen Distinguished Professor of History and Business at the University of Houston and director of the Center for the Study of Capitalism. McNally is the author of seven books including Global Slump.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Derek on January 03, 2021

This book entertains while it instructs -- and it is instructive. I learned so much about the commodity form and money, about alienation and monetization. McNally covers a global history of money with depth and clarity, and he does it in under 250 pages. After reading this work, I am looking forward......more

Goodreads review by Frank on June 18, 2021

This book analyzes the entanglements of money and slavery and their role in the rise of capitalism. Very instructive. Loved the literary analyses of the great epics as texts that depict the turn towards a different political economy and a different regime of accumulation.......more

Goodreads review by Justin on April 24, 2021

Although difficult to read at times, this book delves deep into the history of money and our relations to it.......more

Goodreads review by John on August 22, 2021

McNally's book follows the thread of currency to credit along the human cost of disenfranchisement, enclosure, and more especially of slavery. A thorough book with excellent notes, McNally writes a strong history worthwhile for anyone thinking about possible futures.......more

Goodreads review by Giuseppe on February 09, 2025

Die Zusammenhänge zwischen Kapitalismus und Sklaverei sind in vielen Bücher dargestellt und eigentlich kann man dazu nicht genug schreiben. Die essentielle Komponente wie unser heutiges Geldsystem funktioniert und wieso das auch mit der Sklaverei zusammenhängt lässt sich hier sehr gut verstehen. Bürge......more

Quotes

“This fascinating and informative study, rich in novel insights, treats money not as an abstraction from its social base but as deeply embedded in its essential functions and origins in brutal violence and harsh oppression.” Noam Chomsky

“McNally casts an unsparing light on the origins of money—and capitalism itself—in this scathing, Marxist-informed account…McNally builds a powerful, richly documented argument that unchecked capitalism prioritizes greed and violence over compassion…[T]his searing academic treatise makes a convincing case.” Publishers Weekly

“David McNally’s new book makes an important contribution to the growing critical literature on such basic components of contemporary capitalism as markets and money. His historical perspective makes the contribution especially insightful.” Richard D. Wolff, author of Democracy at Work

“Blood and Money is an ambitious and challenging account of the nexus between money, war, slavery and, eventually, capitalism—across vast swathes of history. At the heart of the book lies a crucial argument about the pivotal role of war finance in the emergence of modern banking, carefully laid out both in McNally’s superlative chapter on the early decades of the Bank of England and in the condensed and fascinating synopsis of American capitalism with which the study concludes. These chapters alone should make the book indispensable reading for anyone seriously interested in the longer-term sources of modern capitalism as we know it today.” Jairus Banaji, author of A Brief History of Commercial Capitalism

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