What we’re about
Join us for a history book club. Whether you’re a history buff or just interested in the conversation, come share your perspective.
For each monthly meet-up, we'll discuss the selected book over drinks and/or food. If you didn't have time to read the book in its entirety, or at all, you're still welcome to join. Each event description will include a lecture by the author, interview, or book preview to give you good context.
Upcoming events
2
King Dollar: The Past and Future of the World’s Dominant Currency
Location not specified yetDetails
For this meeting, we’ll be discussing Paul Blustein’s King Dollar: The Past and Future of the World’s Dominant Currency. A deeply reported and surprisingly readable history of how the U.S. dollar became the world’s most powerful financial weapon—and whether its dominance is sustainable.The book is 320 pages long. The audiobook version is 12 hours and 42 minutes.
If you don’t think you’ll have time to read the book, but still want to join the discussion, you can watch this interview with the author.
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Book Description
King Dollar chronicles the extraordinary rise of the U.S. dollar to its current status as the world’s preeminent currency—and the mounting challenges it faces in the 21st century. Veteran journalist Paul Blustein traces how the dollar came to dominate global finance after World War II, weathering crises from Nixon’s gold shock to the Great Recession. Along the way, he introduces the economists, policymakers, and power players who shaped monetary policy and enforced dollar hegemony.Blustein also examines the growing backlash—from China’s ambitions to dedollarize trade to the potential threat of digital currencies. With sharp insight and crisp storytelling, King Dollar raises provocative questions about the future of global finance—and America’s place in it.
10 attendees
Book Discussion - The Economic Weapon
Location not specified yetFor this meeting, we'll be discussing Nicholas Mulder’s The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War. How economic sanctions went from a utopian idea after WWI to a central weapon of modern geopolitics.
Length: 434 pages | ~14 hrs audiobook
Book Description
In the wreckage of World War I, policymakers believed that cutting off an enemy’s access to trade and finance could prevent future wars. Historian Nicholas Mulder traces how this vision of “peaceful pressure” evolved into one of the most powerful and controversial tools of statecraft. He explores the League of Nations’ early experiments, the devastating humanitarian toll in places like Greece and Spain, and how sanctions shaped the path to World War II. The book shows how a tool designed to avoid war became one of the defining instruments of modern conflict.
Book talk by author: Princeton University on Wed, Apr 6, 2022
8 attendees
Past events
8
