The complex relations between money, human life, and death form the central themes of Morals and Markets. The process of monetarizing life remains a perplexing phenomenon. With lively detail Zelizer chronicles the fascinating development in the second half of the nineteenth century of the life insurance industry in the United States—one of the most unusual tales in the history of American business. This book portrays the controversial origins of the life insurance industry, which was once widely condemned and denounced by newspapers and religious leaders as sacrilegious and immoral.