Self-indulgently, I read *another* novel this week, Francis Spufford’s [amazon_link id=”0571225195″ target=”_blank” ]Golden Hill[/amazon_link]. It has some relevance to this blog, with fascinating insight into early modern (18th century London-New York) finance. Unlike his brilliant [amazon_link id=”0571225241″ target=”_blank” ]Red Plenty[/amazon_link], however – which was about the formal equivalence of a centrally planned economy and a decentralised competitive general equilibrium (under certain assumptions, naturally) – [amazon_link id=”0571225195″ target=”_blank” ]Golden Hill[/amazon_link] is only tangentially about economics, to be transparent about it. It is, though, a rattling good read, highly recommended, and impossible to say more about without spoilers.

[amazon_image id=”0571225195″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Golden Hill[/amazon_image]

Anybody who hasn’t yet read [amazon_link id=”0571225241″ target=”_blank” ]Red Plenty[/amazon_link] should make it a priority. I also adore Spufford’s [amazon_link id=”0571214975″ target=”_blank” ]Backroom Boys[/amazon_link], a hymn to the otherwise unsung heroes of British engineering. And his volume with Jenny Uglow, [amazon_link id=”0571172431″ target=”_blank” ]Cultural Babbage: Technology, Time and Invention[/amazon_link].

[amazon_image id=”0571225241″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Red Plenty[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”0571214975″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Backroom Boys: The Secret Return of the British Boffin[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”0571172431″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Cultural Babbage: Technology, Time and Invention[/amazon_image]