Creative Folkestone: Victoria Bateman: The Hidden History of Money

Victoria Bateman explores the hidden history of money in conversation as part of Creative Folkestone Book Festival. Drawing on her book Economica, she challenges familiar ideas about how wealth is created, who has shaped economic progress, and why the stories we tell about global economic history may need to be rewritten.

The event follows Bateman’s journey across time, from the Stone Age to the digital age, to highlight the entrepreneurs, traders, innovators and workers whose contributions have often been overlooked. A central theme is the crucial role women have played in shaping economies across the centuries, alongside wider questions about power, prosperity and the making of the modern world.

The conversation is chaired by Leigh Chambers, with the event taking place at Quarterhouse in Folkestone. It forms part of the festival’s annual programme of books, ideas and conversation, and includes a book signing afterwards in The Clearing.