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Humans panned for gold before they worked iron or made bronze—perhaps
even before they tilled the soil. Gold was beaten into the first jewellery and
filled the first bank vaults. Gold diggers were the first to be free to say no
to hunting and farming: others would do it for them in return for gold. The
Power of Gold by Peter Bernstein entertainingly tells the history of
humankind’s great obsession. Published by Wiley, £17.99, ISBN
0471252107.