The book "The Gold of the World" traces the course followed by man through the world and through the centuries in his quest for gold. It begins with man's first acquaintance with the precious metal and continues with his search to locate it and the techniques and methods by which he worked it. It is a chronicle that examines man's relations with gold through myth, art, religion, the economy and everyday life. A wealth of illustrations covers every period of human history, from prehistory to the major ancient civilizations and from the America of Conquistadores to the Europe of the great artists.