The Ascent of money tells the story of the rise of finance as a key part of our economy. It starts with the basic trading units, and then goes on to the derivatives and the derivatives of the derivatives. As finance has become more important, people have continued to react irrationally to things. People also tend to underestimate the irrationality of others, leading to financial crises.
This book covers the rise of money in many parts of the world, from western Europe to Incan America to China. The focus is on the major events - often when one group gains or loses a large amount of money. From conquistadors to corrupt Savings and Loan owners, there is almost always somebody that tries to beat the system (often to be beat themselves by the system.) Often it is the very rules to protect that lead to future problems.
Matt Ridley is very strongly pro-science, yet is not afraid to ruffle feathers or bump against orthodox views. Although Genome is over two decades old, he picked a writing approach that makes it still worthwhile. He takes us on a "tour" of the human genome, going chromosome by chromosome.. For each one, he picks something that is relevant. It may be a disease that is associated with it. It may be a well known gene associated with a specific location such as Huntington's disease. Or it may be looking at a location where researchers thought they found something interesting. The history is still interesting even as many things have changed since the book was written.
The Red Queen hypothesis comes from the character in Lewis Carrol's Through the Looking Glass who is always running in order to keep in the same place. Sexual selection must be used as part of the mechanism to continually evolve and adapt in order to stave off extinction. The book starts by asking "why sex?" It seems a very inefficient way to pass on genes. After all, why not just clone oneself to pass on all genes? There are many theories. The "change" is a key benefit. There are chances to clean up "mistakes" or introduce "new mistakes". It also encourages social behaviors. Different animals have adapted in various ways due to their mating patterns. Sex selection also happens in various manners (sometimes based on things such as temperature.) Humans are rather unique in not knowing the precise time of fertility and not producing off-spring that are "done" yet. (The "big brains" need to fit through the small birth canal.) People seem to have an in-built incest restriction against mating with people we have grown up with. Other mating rules have differed across cultures. Monogamy has become a common way to ensure the child has two parents to help with raising. Polygamy may benefit a few men at the top of the hierarchy, but in general it benefits women who now have greater access to the alphas. Men seek traits in women that allow for the production of more offspring (such as youth.)
Magic exists, but is not very common. Fairies are also a separate race that can cause all sorts of problems. Other than that, things are pretty much as we would expect in Victorian England. That is the scenario for Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. The book centers around the two named magician who learn the art of magic and try to document the history. Magic is used to help win wars. However, fairy magic has also lead to plenty of bad historical events.