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The History Of Man's Greatest Obsession
It has sparked wars and toppled empires, inspired legends and captivated our imagination.Throughout the course of human history, gold has been sought, mined, treasured and hoarded.
Gold! ventures across the world and through the ages to tell the story of mankind's oldest obsession.It examined every aspect of our complicated relationship with this most precious of metals, from the gilded dreams of conquistadors and '49ers to gold's role in shaping economies and societies.Visits to world-famous museums showcase the glittering treasures of ancient civilizations, while and extraordinary tour of a three-mile-deep mine in South Africa's Witwatersrand Basin offers a rare, up-close view of workers wrestling the timeless treasure from the clutches of the earth.
The Gold Wars:From Pizarro's brutal conquest of the Incas to Custer's Last Stand The Gold Wars explores the tragic legacy of man's lust for gold.Spain squandered the treasure it stripped from the New World in a doomed attempt to vanquish England.But as George Milling Stanley of the World Gold Council reveals, the same greed form gold ultimately fueled the dissolution of the British Empire, for England's conduct in the Boer Wars - fought for control of South Africa's gold fields - turned public opinion against imperialism.
Gold Fever:Gold Fever accompanies these miners on their journey to the center of the earth and travels back in time to the heyday of the California Gold Rush.The journals and letters of the 19th century prospectors reveal what is was like panning for gold in the wilderness, while a visit to North Dakota's Homestake mine shows how the industrial revolution put an end to the era of the lone prospector.And executives like Paul Streng, the CEO of the Rand Corporation, offer an insider's view of the modern gold mining industry.
The Stuff Of Dreams:The Stuff Of Dreams unrolls brittle maps, traces ancient quests, and revisits the stunning discoveries that have highlighted mankind's never-ending search for gold.It's as much a journey into the human psyche as history, a sweeping look at everything from the legend of El Dorado and the search for the Art of the Covenant to the temptations of the lost Dutchman mine and the unearthing of King Tut's tomb.Scholars explore the meaning of the most enduring golden myths, and we'll join modern-day treasure hunters searching for sunken Spanish galleons, off the Florida Keys.
Cold Hard Cash:The development of money is, arguably second in importance only to the discovery of fire in our history.And without gold, it may not have happened.Cold Hard Cash visits the opulent temples of Constantinople and the bustling trading floors of Wall Street to explore the pervasive impact of money and gold on society.The epic tale is illustrated through in-depth analysis of incidents like the sinking of the SS Central America and the Nazis' use of plundered treasure to fund their war machine.
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