A fascinating book, deeply researched and admirably written by an author who is a master of his subject and also of the light touch

A splendidly entertaining history... This book is both immensely readable and an invaluable guide to a set of institutions whose role in British political and economic history is imperfectly understood

David Kynaston's achievement... is to make the whole thing read like a novel... An altogether exceptional book

The City has never been good at justifying or explaining itself to the wider world, but in David Kynaston it has found a wonderfully gifted and diligent interpreter

A magnificent book

Compulsively readable.