This article undertakes a critical comparison of two books­-Private Banking in Europe: Rise, Retreat, and Resurgence by Youssef Cassis and Philip Cottrell, and Financial Elites and European Banking: Historical Perspectives, edited by Youssef Cassis and Giuseppe Telesca-to explore how different...

Financial innovations and crises: the view backwards from Northern Rock / Jeremy Atack -- An economic explanation of the early Bank of Amsterdam, debasement, bills of exchange and the emergence of the first central bank / Stephen Quinn and William Roberds -- With a view to hold: the emergence of...