Nicolas Mayhew: Sterling – The rise and fall of a currency

Sterling is both a highly entertaining account of the place of currency in our lives (& the different forms it has taken — silver, gold, paper, plastic, electronic) & a painless guide to many aspects of economic theory. Perhaps more than any other European currency, the pound sterling has had an almost religious role in the nation s life. Its continued health, or indeed survival, is something about which many people care deeply. One of this book s purposes is to show that indeed sterling has had a central part to play in Britain s view of itself, but that, equally, sterling has always displayed a ruthless opportunism entirely compatible with its transmutation into the euro.