This book is a large-scale and revolutionary study of the history of commodity-money relations from ancient times to the present day, undertaken by American anthropologist, professor at the London School of Economics, and activist, one of the 'anti-leaders' of the Occupy Wall Street movement, David Graeber (1961–2020). Drawing on anthropological methods, Graeber advances the thesis that at the heart of what we traditionally call the economy lies the concept of debt, which at different stages of societal development can take the form of money, barter, collateral, loans, shares, and so on. One of the imperatives of the book is to wrest economics from the clutches of 'professional economists,' who proved their incompetence during the last global crisis, and to place it within the broader context of cultural history, political science, sociology, and other humanities disciplines. It is intended for a general readership.