Cowrie Shells and Cowrie Money A Global History

'Researchers and instructors will have much to gain from adding this text to their bibliographies and course syllabi... students and instructors of world history will benefit from this important text as they put together the pieces of our global past, one shell at a time.' - Eric Spierer, Assistant Coach, Groton School, Massachusetts, USA

'Cowrie Shells and Cowrie Money [...]argues that its star commodity has agency. In this dense, erudite monograph, [...], Bin Yang focuses clearly on the global quality and scale of the agency that he attributes to the "money cowrie" (Cypraea moneta, or Monetaria moneta), the shell of a small mollusk of the Cypraea family, which was used as coin in Asia from ancient to modern times. This is the first comprehensive study of the "world of the cowrie." It shows how the agency of cowries came from their utility in market exchange...Bin Yang deploys a vast array of documentary and archaeological evidence to describe the lost world of cowrie money...The global history in this book is innovative and path-breaking. The connected history of Asia and West Africa is a most impressive contribution.' - David Ludden, New York University, USA