Debt
by David Graeber
★ Top 25 book of 2011 · #25 on Best Books of 2011
David Graeber traces how debt came before money and has divided societies into debtors and creditors for 5,000 years. He shows how it shaped politics, law, religion and our ideas of guilt and redemption.
Best for: Curious readers interested in the long history of debt and morality
Debt is #25 on BookWard's Best Books of 2011, out of 53 2011 books that cleared our data bar.
What Debt is about
Long before coins and banknotes, argues David Graeber, people owed each other. He traces a human history of about 5,000 years in which societies have split into debtors and creditors, and shows how arguments over debt and its forgiveness have shaped politics, law and religion throughout. Even words like guilt, sin and redemption, he says, grew out of ancient quarrels about what is owed. From there he pushes a larger claim: that debt quietly shapes our basic ideas of right and wrong. The tone is scholarly but pointed, and often openly provocative. It will appeal to readers curious about the history of money, the roots of inequality, or why obligation feels like a moral matter.
Debt on the Best Books of 2011
Debt came out in 2011. Of the 53 books first published in 2011 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #25 on our Best Books of 2011 list.
Why it made the list: 367 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.6 out of 5 (45 ratings); 23 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
It earns Reader favorite.
Nearby on the 2011 list
- Wool Hugh Howey, #23
- The Secret of the Nagas Amish Tripathi, #24
See all Best Books of 2011 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2010 Best Books of 2012.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 277 want to read it, 23 are reading it now and 67 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 from 45 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 43 | 55% |
| Reader love | 94 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 53 | 20% |
Questions about Debt
When was Debt published?
Debt by David Graeber was first published in 2011.
Was Debt one of the best books of 2011?
Debt is #25 on BookWard's Best Books of 2011, out of 53 2011 books that cleared our data bar. 367 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.6 out of 5 (45 ratings); 23 are reading it right now.
Why is Debt on the Best Books of 2011 list?
367 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.6 out of 5 (45 ratings); 23 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 2011
- Sapiens Yuval Noah Harari, #1
- The Song of Achilles Madeline Miller, #2
- Thinking, Fast and Slow Daniel Kahneman, #3
- Steve Jobs Walter Isaacson, #4
- The Son of Neptune Rick Riordan, #5
- The Mark of Athena Rick Riordan, #6
See the full Best Books of 2011, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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