Gold - An Illustrated History

A profusely illustrated description of the use of gold through the ages. In art and culture we are indebted to the Egyptians, who were the master gold craftsmen of their age. Alchemists tried and failed to create gold out of base metals, but laid the groundwork for modern chemistry in the process. In battle and conquest there were the actions of Sir Francis Drake and his sea dogs against the Spanish Armada, and the cruelty and massacres of great civilizations by the Conquistadores. A more gentlemanly style of predators tried to manipulate and capture the gold market in the United States while others, like Cecil Rhodes, built empires, financial and geographical, on gold and diamonds in Africa. Many thousands flocked to isolated wildernesses to chase their own private dreams in the years of the gold rushes in America, Africa, Australasia and elsewhere. The book includes around 200 illustrations...