Niall Ferguson is one of the world's leading historians of the global economy and author of such internationally-acclaimed works as The Pity of War, The Cash Nexus: Money and Power in the Modern World, Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power and The War of the World: Twentieth Century Conflict and the Descent of the West. His new book, The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World; is already an international bestseller and the basis for a multi-part television documentary.