Charting developments in one of the most turbulent periods of economic history, this far reaching volume covers the problems facing the major economies of Europe in the inter-war years. It also discusses global economic policies and the crises for the world's major currencies. Although it covers complex themes, the book is written in an accessible way even for the non-specialist.

Charting developments in one of the most turbulent periods of economic history, this far reaching volume covers the problems facing the major economies of Europe in the inter-war years. It also discusses global economic policies and the crises for the world’s major currencies. Although it covers complex themes, the book is written in an accessible way even for the non-specialist.

Charting developments in one of the most turbulent periods of economic history, this far reaching volume covers the problems facing the major economies of Europe in the inter-war years. It also discusses global economic policies and the crises for the world’s major currencies. Although it covers complex themes, the book is written in an accessible way even for the non-specialist.

A week before the outbreak of the First World War, an acute financial crisis surged over London: the Stock Exchange closed; money markets worldwide were paralysed. Drawing on diaries, letters, memoirs, press reports, and official archives, this book tells the extraordinary, and largely unknown, story of the first true global financial crisis.

Argues that the stock market crash of 1929 and subsequent Depression occurred as a result of poor decisions on the part of four central bankers who jointly attempted to reconstruct international finance by reinstating the gold standard.

This book is concerned with developments in three main areas of monetary history: domestic commercial banking; monetary policy; and the UK’s international financial position. For ease of analysis the 160 years under study are arranged into three clear chronological divisons. Part 1 covers the years 1826-1913, a period in which the UK emerged as the world’s leading economic power. It was in these years that an extensive and fully-operative domestic banking system was established. Part 2 covers 1914 to 1939 – the years which marked a break in the traditional monetary arrangements of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Part 3 covers 1939-1986 when the dominance of state influence within the domestic money markets was re-established by the Second World War and the acceptance by the authorities of the obligation to ‘manage’ the economy which meant that successive postwar governments took direct responsibility for the conduct of monetary and credit policy.

This bibliographical guide contains 10,000 references to the economic and social history of 30 European countries during the period 1700-1939. More than 3000 periodicals have been consulted to obtain references, as well as books, edited collections and conference proceedings. The information is listed in categories such as industry, agriculture, finance, migration, labour conditions, urban communities and organizations. Full publication details are included, so that references may be located easily.