Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The authorized history of the Bank of England by Britain's leading social historian.
The Bank of England is now more than 320 years old, and for the vast majority of that time it has been central in British history, with an increasingly high profile in recent years. Before now no modern, authoritative, and accessible single-volume history has existed, and David Kynaston's account has been written with the Bank's cooperation and with complete access to its archives.
Kynaston's approach, as in his wonderful and bestselling Tales of a New Jerusalem series, is essentially chronological, with a narrative that does full justice to the leading episodes, characters, and themes. It is a history that gives proper treatment to important debates over the years about the Bank's purpose and modes of operation, while also drawing on a huge amount of original research. Kynaston covers the founding of the Bank in 1694 in the midst of the English financial revolution, through wars and financial crises, ending in 2013.
The Bank of England has a largely unknown but fascinating history. Till Time's Last Sand offers an authoritative, insightful, yet accessible portrait of one of the world's key institutions.
Synopsis
The authorised history of the Bank of England by the bestselling David Kynaston, 'the most entertaining historian alive' (Spectator).
'Not an ordinary bank, but a great engine of state, ' Adam Smith declared of the Bank of England as long ago as 1776. The Bank is now over 320 years old, and throughout almost all that time it has been central to British history. Yet to most people, despite its increasingly high profile, its history is largely unknown.
Till Time's Last Sand by David Kynaston is the first authoritative and accessible single-volume history of the Bank of England, opening with the Bank's founding in 1694 in the midst of the English financial revolution and closing in 2013 with Mark Carney succeeding Mervyn King as Governor.
This is a history that fully addresses the important debates over the years about the Bank's purpose and modes of operation and that covers such aspects as monetary and exchange-rate policies and relations with government, the City and other central banks. Yet this is also a narrative that does full justice to the leading episodes and characters of the Bank, while taking care to evoke a real sense of the place itself, with its often distinctively domestic side.
Deploying an array of piquant and revealing material from the Bank's rich archives, Till Time's Last Sand is a multi-layered and insightful portrait of one of our most important national institutions, from one of our leading historians.