Author:David Kynaston
The City of London. Vol IV: A Club No More is the fourth and final volume of David Kynaston's epic history of the square mile in the modern era. This lively and informative book takes the story from the post-war era, when the City was hemmed in by bombsites and austere Chancellors, through to very recent developments, such as the "Big-Bang" deregulation of 1986. This is as much a social history as a financial study, with interesting discussions of the changing class and complexion of the City, and with fascinating details on the early computerisation of the big companies. As with earlier volumes Kynaston's style is that of an anecdotal storyteller. Colourful characters, dramatic boardroom struggles and heated exchanges between politicians and bankers dominate the pages.
'Like its three predecessors, A Club No More is a work of breathtaking scope and accomplishment.'
—— D J Taylor , IndependentMagisterial. Kynaston is compulsively readable on all the great city scandals of recent years. But apart from anything else, his final volume is worth reading as a social documentary of our times.'
—— ObserverThe fifty or so years which are chronicled here in impressive detail were momentous ones for the City-an outstanding achievement.'
—— TLSThe four volumes of his City history of the last 200 years are a splendid achievement-invaluable.'
—— Howard Davies , The TimesIt is a good story, superbly told by Kynaston, who holds together a very diverse narrative with considerable skill. Its greatest merit is that it can be read by specialist and non-specialist alike.
—— Financial TimesLike the earlier volumes, this book is rich in detail and splendidly entertaining-Kynaston relates these events with great verve.
—— Sunday TelegraphDavid Kynaston chronicles these changes with elegance, detachment and wit, and striking flashes of perception-a masterpiece of sharp social observation.
—— Jonathan Sumption , SpectatorThe business book of the year has to be Michael Woodford's Exposure
—— Rosamund Urwin , Evening StandardThe first westerner to work his way to the top of a Japanese corporation discovered a few months later a £950m secret eating away at its heart. ... when he blew the whistle [he] learned of potential plots to take his life.
—— IndependentIn a world increasingly dominated by global multinationals, he just felt someone had to speak out
—— Sunday TimesHe lost his job for his integrity
—— The EconomistMichael Woodford could have spent years turning a blind eye to the shady dealings of executives at Olympus. Instead he dove headfirst into allegations of corporate misconduct
—— TimeMichael Woodford has proven himself a hero, though he never wanted the battle. He risked everything
—— Clive Stafford SmithA gripping chronicle by a corporate whistle-blower who achieved a stunning victory
—— KirkusHe is one of the few foreign businessmen to have penetrated deep inside a Japanese corporation and to report back unflinchingly on what he saw. What he found was not pretty
—— Financial TimesIn this riveting, well-written expose, Shaxson goes deep into the largely unexamined realm of offshore money. In the process, he reveals that this shadow world is no mere sideshow, but is troublingly central to modern finance, with the US and the UK as leaders. The resulting abuses are widespread, ranging from tax revenue stripping from African nations to individuals and corporations escaping enforcement and accountability. A must read for anyone who wants to understand the hidden reasons why financial services firms have become so powerful and impossible to reform
—— Yves Smith, creator of Naked Capitalism and author of EconnedThey who sold us globalisation as a way of the whole world getting richer with fair rules, cheated us by letting the rich and powerful go "offshore". This gripping exposé should help end the scandal
—— Anthony Barnett, founder of openDemocracyPossibly the most important political book that I have read since The Spirit Level
—— Stuart Weir, co-founder of Charter 88, former editor of the New StatesmanHe has prised the lid off an important and terrifying can of worms
—— Martin Vander Weyer , Literary ReviewLively and well written book
—— Toby Young , Mail on SundayA welcome account of how the sun is never allowed to set on the British empire's old islands, whose fiscal pirates hoard the tax-free treasures of the rich
—— Geoffrey Robertson , New Statesman, Books of the YearShaxson delves into capitalism's secret nooks and tells us about how a culture of secrecy can perpetuate itself. Very interesting
—— William Leith , Evening StandardA compelling read [...] an important and very much a live topic, it'll take you a few hours to read the book but it will be a worthwhile investment of time
—— Peter Magee , BookbagWhat makes this such a good read for the layman is that the author employs all his journalistic skill (he used to work at Reuters) to illustrate his arguments and uses real examples to real examples to illustrate complex issues
—— John Arlidge , Sunday TimesThis book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the world we live in
—— Brian Maye , Irish TimesThis engrossing book about the offshore banking racket, with its eye-opening scrutiny of tax havens and the suited scoundrels who profit from them, will make you think again about the murkier side of the City...This first-rate forensic work ends with a plea that the closed City "must be abolished and submerged into a...fully democratic London"
—— Boyd Tonkin , Independent[An] informed polemic against finance capital
—— Oliver Kamm , The TimesNow more than a decade old, this is still the best introduction to the world of tax havens
—— Economist, *Summer Reads of 2022*