Writing in the June 1965 issue of theEconomic Journal, Harry G. Johnson begins with a sentence seemingly calibrated to the scale of the book he set himself to review: "The long-awaited monetary history of the United States by Friedman and Schwartz is in every sense of the term a monumental...

"Exploring the characteristics of inflations and comparing historical cases from Roman times up to the modern day, this book provides an in depth discussion of the subject. It analyses the high and moderate inflations caused by the inflationary bias of poltiical systems and economic...

The money supply in historical perspective -- Beyond monetary policy -- The development of a specie standard -- The U.S. banks and antebellum panics -- Greenbacks, gold, and silver purchases -- The national banking system -- Reform proposals and legislation -- The early Federal Reserve -- The...