City State [Paperback]

Richard Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2, 2002

The City today is the most dynamic and world-beating sector of the British economy. Increasingly, it is the City that calls the shots. More than ever, governments and industry are constrained in their conduct by the fear of the judgement of the financial markets. This book looks back over the past 20 years and examines the extraordinary rise of this economic entity that is the City of London. But there have been social, cultural and moral consequences in playing host to the world's leading international financial centre. City values - greed, the bottom line, league tables - are now the prevalent values in our society. Never has the City been as powerful or its influence as pervasive.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard Roberts is Professor of History at Sussex University and a novelist, scriptwriter and author of number of books about the financial markets. David Kynaston is Visiting Professor at Sussex and the author of the definitive four volume History of The City (Chatto) as well as histories of the FT and other City institutions.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Profile Books (May 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861974167
• ISBN-13: 978-1861974167
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,229,572 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, October 11, 2010

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HappyShopper622 "Happy" (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: City State (Kindle Edition)

This book reads like a series of magazine articles on different aspects of the modern City, the international finance center in the middle of London. The authors make the point that, while the City has always been tied to British government, financing its wars and setting its monetary policy, we know surprisingly little about its role in history. And in the modern era, the City's influence is still understated. As an American reader, I was fascinated to read how the City contributed to changing British attitudes toward money-making in the 20th century, from austerity to semi-socialism to Thatcher to now. (Though also, as an American reader, I ended up on Wikipedia a lot, looking up references to British scandals, political parties and social movements.) The book is from 2002, and I'd love to read the next edition.