The book is powerful because it tells you everything you need to get out of debt then how to build your finances. OK, so do hundreds of other books but this one is readable and doesn't preach at you. With a series of parables you're led through the life of a man called Arkad, who started off as a slave and grew to be the richest and most powerful man in Babylon. It's well written, engaging and so simple even I could understand the complex financial instruments he described (like financial risk and how to view it)