A tale reminiscent of Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks ... Not only is this a powerful human story but it also carries contemporary resonance in a time when great fortunes are again being made

The engrossing story of the meteoric rise and calamitous fall of the Sassoons, set against the backdrop of peak British imperialism ... what a scintillating show it was while it lasted, as this vivid and richly researched book reveals

A very readable, sensitive and original account of a remarkable family, deftly weaving together the history of the business, the history of the family and their place in the wider history of Britain, India and China

Sassoon's assiduous mining of the archives has produced a family history writ large ... the story of the Sassoons' rise from Ottoman Baghdadis to incalculably wealthy figures of the British Establishment is fascinating

Logan Roy might do well to read The Global Merchants for tips ... a tale of commercial derring-do and dissection of the paperwork, the exigencies of calm, but rapid, decision-making that could could lead to boom or bust

Methodical, deeply researched and presented with considered care ... Sassoon's book isn't just a marvellous yarn, it's an Ottoman 'Our Crowd' that gives his family its due'

A marvellous epitaph to a monumental family, makers of several worlds and keepers of none

To read Shutdown feels like sitting alongside the great professor while he feverishly collates an array of data and anecdotes, attempts to chronicle what is going on, his head fizzing with ideas about what it might all mean and where it might be leading ... a fine use of one's time.

Of all the instant histories spawned by the pandemic, this is the closest we'll get to a thriller ... it's a story that bears rereading ... a survival guide for the next man-made cataclysm that Adam Tooze warns will surely come soon.

A comprehensive history of an unprecedented year ... Readers will find this deeply informed parsing of the pandemic to be illuminating and thought-provoking.

Tooze examines the unprecedented decision of governments around the world to shutter their economies in the face of pandemic ... As the pandemic hopefully continues to fade, other crises remain. This book is a valuable forecast of future problems.

A groundbreaking book

A fantastic book about the world of commodity trading.

A fascinating, sometimes hair-raising new book . . . A book which on the one hand tells us some really important things about the nature of money, power and the nature of the modern economy, but on the other is just full of some of the most fascinating stories.

The captivating stories of the powerful commodity traders and mystery actors of markets and geopolitics

The blistering tale of a clutch of hard-charging international commodity trading houses such as Cargill and Glencore. The authors, both former FT journalists, trace how they harnessed the commodity boom and the setbacks they now face as climate change casts a shadow over their business model.

A very impressive profile of an industry that has long preferred to avoid the spotlight . . . The authors deftly weave stories of the individual traders and their trades with an account of the major shifts in the global economy of the past 70 years . . . Extensively researched and well written throughout . . . I would not hesitate to recommend this book.

A thriller . . . An engaging story of secret deals and embargo-evasion.

An entertaining history of the rise of the international trading houses and the charismatic, freewheeling risk-takers who headed them.

The story of how a few commodity-trading firms quietly reconfigured the world economy, making fortunes, juggling embargoes and swaying geopolitics.

There was no single, dominant, astonishing voice in the wilderness in the debate on the credit crunch, but... Edward Chancellor, an economic historian, foresaw almost everything.