What We Are Reading Today: Dark Matter Credit

Updated 09 January 2019
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What We Are Reading Today: Dark Matter Credit

Author: Philip T. Hoffman

Prevailing wisdom dictates that, without banks, countries would be mired in poverty. Yet somehow much of Europe managed to grow rich long before the diffusion of banks. Dark Matter Credit draws on centuries of cleverly collected loan data from France to reveal how credit abounded well before banks opened their doors, says a review on the Princeton University Press website. This incisive book shows how a vast system of shadow credit enabled nearly a third of French families to borrow in 1740, and by 1840 funded as much mortgage debt as the American banking system of the 1950s. Dark Matter Credit traces how this extensive private network outcompeted banks and thrived prior to World War I — not just in France but in Britain, Germany, and the US — until killed off by government intervention after 1918. Overturning common assumptions about banks and economic growth, the book paints a revealing picture of an until-now hidden market of thousands of peer-to-peer loans made possible by a network of brokers who matched lenders with borrowers and certified the borrowers’ creditworthiness.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Prehistoric Textiles’

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Updated 25 January 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Prehistoric Textiles’

  • “Prehistoric Textiles” made an unsurpassed leap in the social and cultural understanding of textiles in humankind’s early history

Author: E.J.W.BARBER

This pioneering work revises our notions of the origins and early development of textiles in Europe and the Near East.
Using innovative linguistic techniques, along with methods from paleobiology and other fields, it shows that spinning and pattern weaving began far earlier than has been supposed.
“Prehistoric Textiles” made an unsurpassed leap in the social and cultural understanding of textiles in humankind’s early history.

 


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Fuji: A Mountain in the Making’

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Updated 24 January 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Fuji: A Mountain in the Making’

Author: ANDREW W. BERNSTEIN

Mount Fuji is everywhere recognized as a wonder of nature and enduring symbol of Japan. Yet behind the picture-postcard image is a history filled with conflict and upheaval. Violent eruptions across the centuries wrought havoc and instilled fear.
It has been both a totem of national unity and a flashpoint for economic and political disputes.
And while its soaring majesty has inspired countless works of literature and art, the foot of the mountain is home to military training grounds and polluting industries.

 


What We Are Reading Today: ‘On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous’

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Updated 24 January 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous’

  • Vuong, a celebrated poet, brings his mastery of language to this debut novel, crafting a work that is as emotionally resonant as it is stylistically daring.

Author: Ocean Vuong

Ocean Vuong’s “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” is a breathtaking and poignant exploration of identity, memory and the enduring impact of generational trauma.

Written as a letter from a son to his mother, the novel bridges the personal and the universal, weaving together themes of love, family and survival with exquisite lyricism.

Vuong, a celebrated poet, brings his mastery of language to this debut novel, crafting a work that is as emotionally resonant as it is stylistically daring.

The narrator, Little Dog, writes to his illiterate mother, recounting his experiences growing up as a Vietnamese immigrant in America. Through this deeply personal lens, Vuong delves into the complexities of their relationship, marked by both tenderness and violence, shaped by her own traumas from the Vietnam War.

Little Dog’s reflections extend beyond their dynamic to explore his own coming of age, his struggles with identity, and the weight of cultural dislocation.

What sets the novel apart is Vuong’s poetic prose, which transforms every sentence into something luminous. His language is evocative and tactile, imbuing even the smallest moments with profound significance. Whether describing the beauty of a first love or the scars left by intergenerational pain, Vuong’s words resonate with a raw honesty that cuts to the core.

At its heart, “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” is a meditation on the power of storytelling. Little Dog’s letter becomes an act of preservation — a way to make sense of his own life and honor the sacrifices of those who came before him.

Vuong examines the ways memory is shaped by trauma and love, showing how the past informs the present in both painful and redemptive ways.

The novel’s structure, non-linear and fragmented, mirrors the nature of memory itself, creating a narrative that feels both intimate and expansive. While its introspective style and heavy themes may not appeal to all readers, “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” is an unforgettable work that demands attention.

Vuong has crafted a novel of extraordinary beauty and depth, a tender and haunting reflection on what it means to be human, to love and to endure. It is a book that lingers in the heart and mind long after the final page.

 


What We Are Reading Today: The Conqueror’s Gift by Michael Maas

Updated 24 January 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: The Conqueror’s Gift by Michael Maas

Ethnography is indispensable for every empire, as important as armies, tax-collectors, or ambassadors. It helps rulers articulate cultural differences, and it lets the inhabitants of the empire, especially those who guide its course, understand themselves in the midst of enemies, allies, and friends.

In “The Conqueror’s Gift,” Michael Maas examines the ethnographic infrastructure of the Roman Empire and the transformation of Rome’s ethnographic vision during Late Antiquity. 

Drawing on a wide range of texts, Maas shows how the Romans’ ethnographic thought evolved as they attended to the business of ruling an empire on three continents.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Social Wasps of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean’

Updated 22 January 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Social Wasps of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean’

Author: Chris Alice Kratzer 

Social wasps like hornets and yellowjackets use the power of teamwork to build complex societies and architectural wonders, and though they comprise only a fraction of the thousands of species in North and Central America, they are almost solely responsible for giving wasps a bad reputation.

This beautifully illustrated field guide covers all known species of social wasps from the high arctic of Greenland and Alaska to the tropical forests of Panama and Grenada.