Barclays
The Business of Banking, 1690–1996

Illustrated history of Barclays Bank from a private Quaker partnership in 1690 to 1996.

Margaret Ackrill (Author), Leslie Hannah (Author)

9780521041003, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 11 February 2008

504 pages, 104 b/w illus. 1 map 14 tables
24.8 x 19 x 2.5 cm, 0.894 kg

'Barclays constitutes an excellent example of the value of a critical, in-depth, archivally based biography of a leading British company, with much that is of value to both financial and business historians, and to those with a more general interest in the evolution of British banking and business enterprise.' Business History

This is a history of one of the world's most famous financial institutions from its foundation as a private Quaker partnership in 1690 to 1996. Over the course of its history, Barclays has been the largest bank in the world, in Africa, and in Britain. A pioneer in international trade finance and large-scale branch banking, Barclays was responsible for the first automated teller machine in the world. This history of innovation and expansion is a microcosm of the successes and failures of corporate strategies in banking and is especially illuminating on the twentieth century. Extensively illustrated and accessibly written, the book is deliberately designed to appeal to readers beyond those with a specialist professional interest in financial history. It makes a major contribution to the economic and social history of modern Britain and the contemporary business world.

1. Quaker private bankers, 1690–1896
2. Corporate consolidation and the control of competition, 1896–1945
3. Stability or stagnation?, 1945–1961
4. The pace quickens, 1962–1973
5. Competition restored: regulatory change, universal banking and overcapacity, 1973–1992
6. Barclays abroad: the transition to global banking, 1945–1992
7. Tranforming the production of banking services, 1945–1992
8. Reassessment, rearrangement and renewal, 1993–1996.

Subject Areas: Banking [KFFK], Economic history [KCZ], Economics, finance, business & management [K], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], General & world history [HBG]