Overview

The meeting of world leaders at Bretton Woods in 1944 was the only time countries from around the world agreed to overhaul the structure of the international monetary system. The system they set up presided over the longest, strongest, and most stable period of growth the world economy has ever seen. At the very heart of the conference was the love-hate relationship between the Briton John Maynard Keynes, the greatest economist of his day, and his American counterpart Harry Dexter White (later revealed to be passing information secretly to Russian spies). Both were intent on creating an economic settlement that would put right the wrongs of Versailles. Both were working to prevent another world war. But they were also working to defend their countries' national interests. Drawing on a wealth of unpublished accounts, diaries, and oral histories, this brilliant book describes the conference in stunning color and clarity. This is an extraordinary debut from a talented historian.

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9798200021628

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Reviews

"Brimming with the sort of vivid details that make the past come alive, The Summit is both an impressive work of scholarship and an absolute delight to read.-- ""Liaquat Ahamed, author of Lords of Finance"" ""An entertaining and insightful history. Readers will love how Conway skillfully brings to life the goings-on in what the British snobbily called 'the monstrous monkey house' of Bretton Woods."" -- ""New York Times Book Review"" ""Excellent. Conway superbly describes the political rivalries. Entertaining and informative, Conway's book mixes high partying with big thinking about serious matters."" -- ""BBC History Magazine"" ""Finally, we have an audiobook that puts to rest the lie that international monetary policy is deathly dry and boring...What a story! Ralph Lister does a cracking job narrating this impressive tome. He approaches the material with energy and verve, and his British accent lends an air of international credibility to his performance. Though his voice has a slight rasp, that doesn't in the least detract from his narration, and his excitement is infectious."" -- ""AudioFile"" ""In his gripping account of an exhausting three weeks in 1944, during which the IMF and the World Bank came into being, Ed Conway tells how the participants set out to rid the global economy of the types of dangerous imbalances that lie at the root of the eurozone's current predicament."" -- ""Financial Times"""

Author Information

Ed Conway is the economics editor of Sky News. Previously, he was the economics editor of the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph. He was appointed to this role at age twenty-five, making him the youngest ever economics editor of a British national newspaper. He lives in London. Ralph Lister is an actor, voice actor, and AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator. He spent fifteen years in London theater before moving to the United States to focus on film and television. He has held numerous roles in Shakespeare and modern dramas, as well as starring roles in independent films. His voice and character work can be heard in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearland 13 Going On 30. He lives in Los Angeles.

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