Prologue
THE HISTORY OF OBSESSION
The Supreme Possession
About one hundred years ago, John Ruskin told the story of a man who boarded a
ship carrying his entire wealth in a large bag of gold coins. A terrible storm
came up a few days into the voyage and the alarm went off to abandon ship.
Strapping the bag around his waist, the man went up on deck, jumped overboard,
and promptly sank to the bottom of the sea. Asks Ruskin: "Now, as he was
sinking, had he the gold? Or had the gold him?"
This book tells the story of how people have become intoxicated, obsessed,
haunted, humbled, and exalted over pieces of metal called gold. Gold has
motivated entire societies, torn economies to shreds, determined the fate of
kings and emperors, inspired the most beautiful works of art, provoked horrible
acts by one people against another, and driven men to endure intense hardship in
the hope of finding instant wealth and annihilating uncertainty.
"Oh, most excellent gold!" observed Columbus while on his first voyage to
America. "Who has gold has a treasure [that] even helps souls to paradise." As
gold's unquenchable beauty shines like the sun, people have turned to it to
protect themselves agains ... read full excerpt from The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession ebook
