When Money Dies, by Adam Fergusson. An essential read, and I found the following (long) paragraph to be one of the best and most telling of the book

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“The take-off point in the inflationary progress, after which the...

"advent of hyperinflation was but a matter of time, the point indeed when it became self-generating and politically irreducible except for short periods, was not indeed to be found on the graph of the currency depreciation, or of the velocity of its circulation, or of the...

"balance of payments deficit. Nor in Germany's case did it notably coincide with some ultimate crisis of confidence in the Mark, at home or abroad – Rathenau's murder, or the occupation of the Rhine ports, or the London Ultimatum, all of which had immediate seismic effects...

"upon it. Rather it lay on the falling curve of political possibility, with which was closely linked the degree of political power and courage that the government, sorely pressed as it was, was able to muster. What really broke Germany was the constant...

"taking of the soft political option in respect of money.”