A unique illustrated exploration of the development of finance that combines data from every part of the world and covers five thousand years of history “The book is a lot of fun. Data-fixated readers will enjoy unpicking its main content: a series of elegantly produced maps, graphs and other visualisations. These are eclectic in scope and ambitious in intent.”—Jonathan Guthrie, Financial Times From the emergence of money in the ancient world to today’s interconnected landscape of high-frequency trading and cryptocurrency, the story of finance has always taken place on an international stage.Finance is one of the most globalized and networked of human activities, and one of the most important social technologies ever invented. This volume, the first visually based book dedicated to finance, uses graphics and maps to bring the complex and abstract world of finance down to earth, showing how geography is fundamental for understanding finance, and vice versa. It illuminates the people—inc