From Crisis to Crisis examines the impact of the harsh conditions of the interwar economy on
the British merchant banks. The financial crises of 1914 and 1931 are assessed using primary
sources. The competitive threats including the rise of New York as a rival financial centre
are considered. It challenges alleged special treatment and provides fresh perspectives on the
interwar rationalisation of industry. During the late nineteenth century Britain's merchant
banks had become pre-eminent in a world of fixed exchange rates free trade and the unfettered
mobility of international capital. This world was increasingly challenged in the interwar
period being replaced by floating exchange rates trade protectionism and restrictions on
capital movements.This book fills a gap in the historiography of British banking by recovering
the histories of long-forgotten merchant banks rather than focusing on the better-known firms.
Using a wide range of archival resources it traces the strategic transformation by some
merchant banks from higher-risk capital intensive activities to lower-risk advisory services.
Brian O'Sullivan has been jointly awarded the 2019 BAC Wadsworth Prize for From Crisis to
Crisis: The Transformation of Merchant Banking 1914-1939. It was judged by the Business
Archives Council (BAC) to have made an outstanding contribution to the study of British
business history. Brian shared the prize with Professor Priya Satia of Stanford University in
California.
