Widely considered the crowning achievement in the history of international monetary relations, the classical gold standard (1880-1914) has long been treated like a holy relic. Its veneration, however, has done more to obscure than to reveal the actual nature of the era's monetary system. In The Anatomy of an International Monetary Regime, Giulio M. Gallarotti addresses the nature of the classical gold standard in its international context, offering the first comprehensive and systematic treatment of the subject.
Three fundamental questions are essential to the discussion: How did the...