Listen to a short interview with Stephen MihmHost: Chris Gondek | Producer: Heron CraneFew of us question the slips of green paper that come and go in our purses; pockets; and wallets. Yet confidence in the money supply is a recent phenomenon: prior to the Civil War; the United States did not have a single; national currency. Instead; countless banks issued paper money in a bewildering variety of denominations and designs--more than ten thousand different kinds by 1860. Counterfeiters flourished amid this anarchy; putting vast quantities of bogus bills into circulation.Their success; Stephen Mihm reveals; is more than an entertaining tale of criminal enterprise: it is the story of the rise of a country defined by a freewheeling brand of capitalism over which the federal government exercised little control. It was an era when responsibility for the country's currency remained in the hands of capitalists for whom "making money" was as much a literal as a figurative undertaking.Mihm's witty tale brims with colorful characters: shady bankers; corrupt cops; charismatic criminals; and brilliant engravers. Based on prodigious research; it ranges far and wide; from New York City's criminal underworld to the gold fields of California and the battlefields of the Civil War. We learn how the federal government issued greenbacks for the first time and began dismantling the older monetary system and the counterfeit economy it sustained.A Nation of Counterfeiters is a trailblazing work of history; one that casts the country's capitalist roots in a startling new light. Readers will recognize the same get-rich-quick spirit that lives on in the speculative bubbles and confidence games of the twenty-first century.
#776703 in Books 2006-10-31 2006-09-25Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.25 x 1.81 x 6.13l; 2.15 #File Name: 0674022580736 pages
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Balanced; Detailed; and Somewhat BlandBy TowelclerkHad Service written this book two years later; he would have had the benefit of a primary source of almost-loving detail concerning Stalin in Dimitri Shepilov's fine memoir. I refer to Shepilov's accounts of cozy Sunday evenings with the Boss as together they wrote and edited an updated socialist economics textbook for Soviet citizens. The project was of great importance to the aging leader; who described the text to Shepilov as having a value to the Soviet Union as important as "the air we breathe." This scholarly comradery occurred in 1949-1950; during the postwar years that I confess are my favorite period to study in Stalin's life.So I start this review of the Service biography by citing Shepilov's memoir; because Service's biography; while chock full of detail on all phases of Stalin's life; never quite reaches the intimacy of Shepilov's warm witnessing. Many of the riddles of Stalin's life (e.g.; as a young revolutionary; did he in fact work for the Czar's police? Was his shock at ally Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union great enough to first render him mentally helpless? Was the aging despot's death in fact a murder?) are certainly adequately mentioned; but; in my opinion; they are inadequately speculated upon. I hope I'm not asking for the impossible--I know Service was not; as Shepilov was; a primary source of information about Stalin--but I personally would opt for the heat of some speculative; subjective discussion now and then over Service's rather universal objectivity concerning Stalin's life.But having said that; I offer here some of the book's strengths: Service doesn't automatically dismiss all praise of Stalin as unwarranted propaganda; and that's why I applaud the book as balanced. Service is especially careful of how he considers the values and detriments of daughter Svetlana's accounts of her father's actions. Service freely uses Molotov's memoirs to provide additional strength to the value of Stalin's own viewpoints; Molotov never wavered in his belief in the Boss; and therefore; distorted or not; an actual picture of Stalin often emerges when Service cites Molotov.But some other weaknesses: 1) How in the world can Service write about the WWII Stalin and never mention Harry Hopkins? I think it entirely fair to say that no Soviet WWII ally had a representative as respected by--and necessary to--Stalin as was Harry Hopkins. 2) Service writes practically nothing about Stalin's role in monitoring the Soviet Union's internal development of the atomic bomb. As I understand it; Stalin monitored this huge effort by a means independent of its official leadership under Beria.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. The many anecdotes make for easy reading; but do not always seem to be ...By christer nykoppInteresting; but brings little in the way of new insights. The many anecdotes make for easy reading; but do not always seem to be properly underpinned. It does show Stalin to be a freak; but this we already knew. Lately there have been comparisons with V.Putin; but I consider these to be totally off the mark. While Putin tries to run a traditional Great Power Game; he lacks the prominent sadistic aspects of Stalin; and could better be compared to Bismarck in his policies.18 of 19 people found the following review helpful. Incomplete viewBy Logibear64Robert Service's Stalin biography provides a detailed glimpse into the life of one of history's great tyrants. In the course Service dispels a number of myths especially whether Stalin murdered his second wife. Another reviewer pointed out the assassination of Kirov and Stalin's destruction of Bukharin; Kamenev and Zinoviev deserves greater attention. I agree. These prominent opponents of Stalin are dispatched by Service with only a few sentences. Service additionally makes broad-brush statements about popular views; resistance or opposition to Stalin which he does not support with facts or anecdotes.Ultimately; where the book let me down is when the 1930's end and enters the World War 2 and post-world war 2 eras. It seems the author was bored by the subject or just wanted to the book quickly. Service additionally assigns the lion's share of responsibility for the Cold War to Truman and his desire for world-wide United States hegemony.These last chapters of the book I feel made Service's "Stalin-A biography" seem incomplete.
