The treaty : the gripping story of the negotiations that brought about Irish independence and led to the civil war

The reach of Corporations into our lives via cards and apps has never been greater; many of us rarely use cash these days. But what we're told is a natural and inevitable move is actually the work of powerful interests. And the great battle of our time is the battle for ownership of the digital footprints that make up our lives. In Cloudmoney, Brett Scott tells an urgent and revelatory story about how the fusion of Big Finance and Big Tech requires "cloudmoney"—digital money underpinned by the banking sector—to replace physical cash. He dives beneath the surface of the global financial system to uncover a long-established lobbying infrastructure: an alliance of partners waging a covert war on cash. He explains the technical, political, and cultural differences between our various forms of money and shows how the cash system has been under attack for decades, as banking and tech companies promote a cashless society under the banner of progress. Cloudmoney takes us to the front lines of a war for our wallets that is also about our freedom, from marketing strategies against cash to the weaponization of COVID-19 to push fintech platforms, and from there to the rise of the cryptocurrency rebels and fringe groups pushing back. It asks the most pressing questions: Who benefits from a cashless society and who gets left behind? Is the end of cash the end of true privacy? And is our cloudmoney future closer than we think it is? On the morning of 11 October 1921, the world's media watched as Michael Collins, leader of the 'Irish murder gang', bounded through the door of 10 Downing Street. Moments later, he shook hands with the British Prime Minister. So began the first day of the most important political negotiations in modern Anglo-Irish history. Nearly two months later, in the early hours of 6 December 1921, the talks culminated in the signing of what in Ireland is known simply as 'the Treaty' - a document that had been designed to end one violent conflict, but which soon gave rise to another. A century on from its signing, award-winning journalist Gretchen Friemann has produced a gripping account of the tense and protracted negotiations between the Irish and British delegations, shining a fresh light on the complex politics and high-stakes bargaining that produced the agreement. A stunningly vivid piece of narrative history that resonates across the intervening century to the age of Brexit, The Treaty is a must-read for anyone who wishes to understand modern Ireland and the enduring complexities of British-Irish relations. -- Provided by publisher On the morning of 11 October 1921, the worlds media watched as the most wanted man in Ireland bounded through the door of 10 Downing Street. Moments later, the head of the murder gang grasped the hands of the Prime Minister. Such was the mind-bending melodrama of the events leading up to what is known in Ireland, very simply, as the Treatya document that had been designed to end one violent conflict and soon gave rise to another. A century on from its signing, Gretchen Friemann has produced a gripping and definitive account of the negotiations, shining a fresh light on the complex politics and high-stakes bargaining that produced the agreement. The Treaty is a stunningly vivid piece of narrative history that resonates across the intervening century to the age of Brexit. It is a must-read for anyone who wishes to understand modern Ireland and the enduring complexities of British-Irish relations.