I recently finished reading Money of the Mind: Borrowing and Lending in America from the Civil War to Michael Milkin. It is essentially a history of interest rates in the United States from the 1860s through the 1980s. Over some 440 pages, James Grant presents a survey of major events that have affected and been affected by borrowing. He looks at everything from the maturation of New York City as the financial center of the country to the gradual demise of the international gold-exchange standard, and from railroad bonds to the popularization of consumer lending.