How to Get Rich in American History

300 Years of Financial Advice That Worked (& Didn’t)

By: Joseph S. Moore PhD

Narrated by: Brett Barry, Joseph S. Moore

AN INSTANT USA Today BESTSELLER • A Next Big Idea Club Must-Read • FEATURED IN The Wall Street Journal, Blooomberg, MoneyWeek, Kiplinger, Forbes, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Washington Independent Review of Books AND MORE!

Introduction read by the author.

“Eye opening, deeply researched, and snort-out-your-nose funny. I dare you to put it down.” —William Bernstein, author of The Four Pillars of Investing

“A serious and startling social history of wealth and a standup comedy routine, this is one of the funniest financial books I’ve ever read.” —Jason Zweig, columnist at The Wall Street Journal

In richly told stories and wild self-experiments, historian Joseph Moore tests history’s best and worst financial advice to find what worked, what didn’t, and why everyday people can still get ahead—including you.

What if so-called timeless beliefs about money like “invest for the long run,” “compound interest builds wealth,” and “real estate always goes up” were shockingly new . . . and rarely true.

From Benjamin Franklin to TikTok gurus, what “everyone knows” about personal finance has rarely stayed the same. Parents once taught children not to save and that stocks were only for suckers. Meanwhile, supposedly new phenomenon like Airbnb, crypto, skipping lattes, and complaints that nobody can get ahead are far older than we think.

In How to Get Rich in American History, Joseph Moore shares the unexpected and counterintuitive lessons of the past—from the scams we keep falling for to the long allure of creating generational wealth—so we can avoid the same mistakes and make the most of our own finances today.

Along the way, Moore tries these old ideas on himself, with hair-raising and hilarious results. His personal journey includes wild investments, get-rich-quick schemes, founding a cryptocurrency, and how he went from his working-class roots and facing financial ruin to retiring in his forties. Ultimately, Moore finds that despite today’s loud pessimists, success has never been easier to achieve in American history than it is right now.

Fun, accessible, and filled with eye-opening insights you can apply for yourself alongside laugh-out-loud stories you never learned in school, How to Get Rich in American History pushes back against skeptics who claim the American dream is out of reach. It is a thoughtful, practical, and surprisingly hopeful read that sheds new light on the prospects of getting by and getting ahead then . . . and now.

“Refreshingly unequivocal advice.” —Publishers Weekly

A sure to be best seller and forever favorite. Get one for you and buy another one as a gift for graduation or Father’s Day.

Great book. Insightful. Entertaining. Motivating. Surprisingly funny. Even if you don’t like history or financial advice you will enjoy this book. If you do nerd out on the history of financial advice, you’re sure to love it. Go Ahead!

Exceptional: Funny, Informative, Well researched

Enjoyed listening while working on my own business / side hustle. Great motivation and enjoyably light hearted at the same time. If you’re a go getter, you’ll like this book.

Many myths busted.

I like the reality checks on memory of the past vs what it was actually like.

Entertaining & Thought Provoking

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was entertaining, informative, thought-provoking, and sparked many memories from my entrepreneurial journey. The book should give you lots to think about!

Fun finance read

I enjoyed reading and listening to this book. Best chapter for me was on inheritance myths. As an finance academic myself, there was little new information and as typical I was hoping for deeper dives in certain topics, but the book is not really for me rather a more mainstream audience and as such hits the nail on the head well. Where it lacks in historical and theoretical depth, it makes up for with entertaining narrative story telling. Worth your time for all audiences. I’ve read several of the new finance books this year and this one is so far the clear stand out.