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About The Book

Imagine one day you went to a cash-machine and found your money was gone. You rushed to your branch, where a teller said that overnight people had stopped believing in money, and it all vanished. Seem incredible? It happened, and it could happen again.

Twilight of the Money Gods is the story of economics, told not as the science it strove to be, but as the religion it became. Over two centuries, it searched for the hidden codes which would reveal the path to a promised land of material abundance. While its prophets, from Adam Smith to John Maynard Keynes and Milton Friedman, concerned themselves with the human condition, its priesthood gradually grew remote from its followers, until it lost sight of their tribulations. Today, amid a crisis of faith in their expertise, we must re-imagine an economics for a new era - one filled with both danger and opportunity.

About The Author

John Rapley has made a vocation of working, and living, at the intersection where theory meets practice. After beginning his career at Oxford University’s International Development Centre, he left for the developing world, where he spent the next two decades working as an academic, journalist and ultimately the co-creator and director of a policy think tank. Along the way, he worked at universities on three continents and, upon returning to the UK, lectured at the University of Cambridge’s Centre of Development Studies. He now lives in London as a writer.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (July 13, 2017)
  • Length: 464 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781471152771

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Raves and Reviews

'A must-read for all… Rapley reveals vast knowledge and is a master of powerful imagery.’

– Avinash Persaud, Prospect

‘Rapley’s book kept me spellbound, and I awaited the right moment to read the next chapter, while I pondered during my daily routine what I’d read in the previous one. He’s a wonderful writer, that perfect combination of traveller, journalist and academic.'

– Nina Rothe, Huffington Post

'Fascinating.'

– Giles Fraser, BBC

'Takes readers on a fascinating journey through the history of economic thought… Rapley manages this in a remarkable manner... It’s a damn good read, and an easy one, even for those who would be usually daunted by any prospect of "a history of economic thought".’

– Roger Southall, Business Day (South Africa)

‘Rapley, Renaissance Man par excellence, combines a masterful, suspenseful writing style with encyclopaedic knowledge to deliver this tour de force in economic, political and religious history.’

– Ian Boyne, Jamaica Gleaner

'Wide-ranging and entertainingly written’

– David Orrell, World Finance

'A terrific read… the author reviews, with awesome confidence and a fluent, articulate style, nothing less than the economic and political history of the world since the beginnings of capitalism.'

– Colin Leys, Red Pepper

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