On a summer evening in 1994, the two members of the band KLF burned £1 million in £50 notes in a barn on the Isle of Jura. They filmed themselves tossing the bills into the fire, and made the story public. The reaction amazed them: this act of nihilism caused a public outpouring of rage. They received death threats. And yet, if the band members had squandered their wealth away on designer clothes and sports cars, would anyone have cared?

We constantly make assumptions about money. We confuse it with morality. We know we need it, and we tend to want more of it, but what we do not always appreciate are the ways it affects our minds, and emotions, and can even skew our perceptions.

Mind Over Money is about what money does to us. In delightfully accessible language, Hammond explores the power of money and shows how psychology and neuroscience are providing us with some extraordinary tools for making better decisions about the way we use money.

Claudia Hammond is an award-winning writer, broadcaster, and psychology lecturer. She is the author of Emotional Rollercoaster: A Journey through the Science of Feelings, which was published in six territories. She won the 2011 Mind Media’s Making a Difference Award (given to those who set the agenda and initiate change) and the British Psychological Society’s 2012 Public Engagement and Media Award. She has also been shortlisted for the Professional Publishers Association Magazine Columnist of the Year Award, the International Award for Humanitarian Journalism, and the Medical Journalism Awards.

Claudia Hammond's profile page

Claudia Hammond is the ideal tour guide for this hugely enjoyable (if sometimes alarming) journey through the strange psychology of spending and saving. Mind Over Money is both a fascinating exploration of the ways money messes with our heads, and a practical guidebook for how to avoid getting fleeced — whether by others or our own irrational minds.

Oliver Burkeman