Whether you are involved in commodities trading or investing or simply - like the rest of us - consume them on a daily basis, this guide to commodities book should have something for you. Peter Sainsbury, economist, commodity investor, and blogger at Materials Risk, introduces and explains the essential things you really need to know about commodities in a series of 50 accessible and engaging essays.

Beginning with the basics, such as the price elasticity of supply and the role of expectations, and concluding with the latest thinking on speculation and commodity markets and commodity trading and investing, he sheds light on all the essential topics needed to understand commodity super-cycles, resource scarcity, and security, and the way the world of commodities affects us every day.

Most books about commodities sell you the dream that you can give up your day job and make a killing by trading soybeans. Some suggest that you should invest your pension in gold and a basket of other commodities and look forward to a prosperous retirement. The others are full of complex statistics that are impenetrable to most people.

This book is different. Packed with real-life examples and quotations from key thinkers and market players Commodities: 50 Things You Really Need to Know is a lively and relevant exploration of how commodities and commodity markets influences every aspect of our lives.

Peter Sainsbury is also the author of Crude Forecasts: Predictions, Pundits and Profits in the Commodity Casino and The Winning Formula: Betting on F1.