The dazzlingly illustrated story of how the world's most beautiful element has influenced the art, economy, and society of every civilization. When Hesiod, the Greek poet of the eighth century B.C., recounted the history of the world as he understood it, he described the legendary first generation of mortal men, who lived in peace and ease, as the “people of gold.” Nearly three millennia later, we still refer to a particularly happy or prosperous era as a “golden age.” The reason Hesiod’s metaphor translates so perfectly into our own idiom is that the mystique of gold, the quintessential precious metal, is truly universal. The very scarcity of gold accounts for part of its allure and much of its monetary value: the total volume of gold ever mined, from prehistory to the present day, would probably fit inside a cube with sides just twenty yards (18 m) long. Yet gold’s incredible material properties also contribute to its appeal. Gold does not corrode, so it never loses its brilliant luster, and it can be chased, embossed, punched, drawn into wires, hammered foil-thin, and shaped in countless other ways. This engaging book reveals that the ways in which gold, in turn, has shaped humanity are no less numerous. Since prehistory, for example, artisans have fashioned gold into ritual objects and high-status ornaments; beginning in the sixth century B.C., gold served as currency; and even in the modern era it has encouraged wars of conquest and triggered frantic gold rushes. Each chapter is devoted to one historical epoch, explaining how people of that time mined and refined gold, and how they used it for cultural and economic purposes. Two hundred gorgeous color photographs illustrate golden objets d’art as diverse as the funerary masks of Tutankhamen; intricate Celtic jewelry; a figurine of “El Dorado,” a pre-Columbian chief said to ritualistically cover his entire body in gold dust; bejeweled medieval reliquaries and crucifixes; and even Gustav Klimt’s gold-drenched canvas The Kiss. With its authoritative yet lively text and these arresting illustrations, The Lure of Gold sets, as it were, the gold standard for books on material culture.

Incorporating myth, history and contemporary investigation, Bernstein tells the story of how human beings have become intoxicated, obsessed, enriched, impoverished, humbled and proud for the sake of gold. From the past to the future, Bernstein's portrayal of gold is intimately linked to the character of humankind.

For twenty-five years, Kendall Brown studied Potosí, Spanish America's greatest silver producer and perhaps the world's most famous mining district. He read about the flood of silver that flowed from its Cerro Rico and learned of the toil of its miners. Potosí symbolized fabulous wealth and unbelievable suffering. New World bullion stimulated the formation of the first world economy but at the same time it had profound consequences for labor, as mine operators and refiners resorted to extreme forms of coercion to secure workers. In many cases the environment also suffered devastating harm. All of this occurred in the name of wealth for individual entrepreneurs, companies, and the ruling states. Yet the question remains of how much economic development mining managed to produce in Latin America and what were its social and ecological consequences. Brown's focus on the legendary mines at Potosí and comparison of its operations to those of other mines in Latin America is a well-written and accessible study that is the first to span the colonial era to the present.

Captain Calder Velden, a ruthless seafaring servant of the Secret Dutch Alliance, had been summoned to serve his state in territories unknown. 1586AD his beloved homelands were under Spanish Rule, there seemed to be no answers on how the resistance could end the tyranny. Backed by incredible wealth, King Phillip II of Spain had established a World Power hell bent on conquering all known territories. The Dutch Alliance knew the Spanish had discovered an untapped source of wealth in the territories of Nueva Guinea. It was time to send their cut-snake captain to disrupt and cripple the southern supply of gold to the Spanish Treasury. Calder was in command of the new stealth ship, 'The Kharon', specifically made for the mission. Christened after the mythical ferry boat of the underworld, she was to pursue, raid and pillage enemy merchant ships along the trade route south of Bantam and leave no survivors!

When gold was discovered in California in 1848, the news caused the greatest mass migration in the history of the Republic. This comprehensive history demonstrates how the Gold Rush touched the lives of families & communities everywhere in the U.S.

Lustrous, tender, and expansive, Gold Cure moves from boomtown gold mines and the mythical city of El Dorado to the fracking wells of the American interior, excavating buried histories, legacies of conquest, and the pursuit of shimmering ideals. Ted Mathys skewers police brutality on the ribs of a nursery rhyme and drives Petrarchan sonnets into shale fields deep under the prairies. In crystalline language rich with allegory and wordplay, Mathys has crafted a moving elegy for the Anthropocene.

Winner of the Golden Kite Award for Nonfiction The remarkable tale of two young men during the Klondike Gold Rush, told through first-hand diaries, letters, and more—“excellent reading” for middle grade fans of The Call of the Wild and adventure stories (School Library Journal) As thousands head north in search of gold, Marshall Bond and Stanley Pearce join them, booking passage on a steamship bound for the Klondike goldfields. The journey is life threatening, but the two friends make it to Dawson City, in Canada, build a cabin, and meet Jack London—all the while searching for the ultimate reward: gold! A riveting, true, action-packed adventure, with their telegrams, diaries, and letters, as well as newspaper articles and photographs. An author’s note, timeline, bibliography, and further resources encourage readers to dig deeper into the Gold Rush era.

"Art of the Gold Rush" features drawings and oil paintings of images of the scenery, people, and activity surrounding the 80,000 travelers to California in search of golden nuggets.