Off the Books

Off the Books: How Humanity Hid Its Fortune exposes the hidden bloodstream of global wealth—the secret economy that has existed as long as money itself. From ancient merchants smuggling silver along Silk Road caravans to hackers laundering millions in cryptocurrencies, this book uncovers how humanity learned not just to make money, but to make it disappear.

Across empires and ages, kings, cartels, corporations, and even crusaders have mastered the same dark art: concealment. Through wars, revolutions, and technological leaps, money laundering has shaped history more than most realize—financing crusades, fueling corruption, and fortifying empires built on secrecy. It’s a story of human cunning, moral compromise, and the eternal chase between those hiding wealth and those hunting it.

With cinematic storytelling and meticulous historical research, Off the Books maps this underground evolution—from buried treasure and secret ledgers to offshore havens, shell companies, and blockchain laundering. Readers will meet the Templars who became the first offshore bankers, the pirates who invented global cash flow, and the digital criminals redefining anonymous finance today.

Off the Books doesn’t just recount financial crimes—it reveals how money laundering built the modern world, and why the fight against it may determine the future of power itself.