Money and Markets collects fifteen essays on topics central to British historian Martin Daunton's distinguished career, which spans six decades with appointments at the University of Durham, University College London, and the University of Cambridge. Professor Daunton's impressive body of work encompasses political economy and globalization in Britain, and the essays, written by colleagues and students, touch upon these areas with a thoughtfulness and precision that would make him proud. This review gathers observations about some of these contributions.

Co-editor Julian Hoppit revisits the belief that London and the southeast contributed a less than proportionate share of Britain's tax receipts from the late seventeenth through early nineteenth centuries, and he demonstrates, in contrast to the conventional wisdom, that these regions held their own in terms of the excise, customs, and total taxes collected. This occurred even though most industrial activity occurred outside of London. Hoppit shows, using official sources, that London's key role as an entrepôt for both internal and external trade made it a natural site for customs and tax collection and that the City of London's role as the world's dominant financial center solidified these advantages.

Co-editor Adrian Leonard explores the role of London's marine insurers in early nineteenth-century investment. While financing is often considered the territory of bankers and stock exchange principals, Leonard shows, by examining of the ledgers of John Julius Angerstein of Lloyd's, that marine insurers played a key role in state financing during the Napoleonic Wars. The emphasis on long-term investment in addition to the usual risk-sharing features of marine insurance reveal just how much economic activity was likely supported by these shadow intermediaries at a time when state finance was so acutely needed to fend off a major military threat.

Charles Read examines and rationalizes apparent inconsistencies in the public policy of Sir Robert Peel, who served twice as British prime minister (1834–1835 and 1841–1846). Read argues that while often credited with starting the mid-Victorian “age of stability,” Peel, through his economic policies, particularly his gradualism in navigating tensions between agrarian and urban interests, created the rift within the Conservative Party that continues to the present day. Peel's advocacy for free trade and repeal of the Corn Laws, coupled with a failure to follow through fully with the former and attempts to impose stringent regulations on the banking industry, seems internally inconsistent at best. Yet Read proposes that these policies be considered in light of an overarching goal of lowering prices to benefit less-wealthy individuals, and he opens a fresh debate on the true motivations underlying Peel's public positions.

David Todd offers an account of France's vibrant and outward-looking economy in the mid-nineteenth century, specifically of the role of rising specialization in the nation's “champagne” form of capitalism. Todd describes how both healthy cooperation and competition with Britain promoted a market for French luxury goods, such as silk, champagne, and gifts, which other nations could not easily replicate with the same attention to craftmanship and detail. Todd goes on to argue that these advantages fueled the French economy for decades. The view runs counter to accounts of nineteenth-century France's sluggish economy, which Todd attributes to overemphasis on the period after 1870. The narrative opens the mind further to the idea that any view of French backwardness at this time is a result of framing.

Sabine Schneider describes factors surrounding Germany's decision to adopt a gold standard through coinage acts in 1871 and 1873, attributing the decision primarily to a desire to emulate Britain while facilitating commerce both with Britain and independently of her. Schneider notes that the decision may also have bestowed reputational advantages in the international capital market of the type outlined by Michael D. Bordo and Hugh Rockoff (“The Gold Standard as a ‘Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval,’” Journal of Economic History, 56, 2 [1996]: 389–428). Germany fell short of establishing the gold mark as the new international currency, but Schneider argues effectively for why, on balance, the nation benefited from the change as it rose to industrial prominence in the period leading up to the First World War.

Seung Woo Kim explores uncertainties in the early Eurodollar market of the 1960s, and how international banks receiving these deposits engendered a climate where even the collection of statistics about the market faced active resistance. This came primarily from the Bank of England, presumably because the City of London had much to gain from a booming Eurodollar market in the age of Regulation Q, which restricted interest on US bank deposits and opened the door to international competition. Kim points out, however, that the Eurodollar market quickly lost any dependence on Regulation Q, and that its success, even in the midst of intrinsic volatility in short-term international capital flows, was instrumental to globalization of the world economy and London's resurgence in that scheme. Kim's engaging narrative pushes against the textbook notion that transparent markets mobilize capital most effectively with a critical counterexample that offers reason for pause.

Co-editor Duncan Needham offers an entertaining examination of considerations surrounding site selection and construction of London's “third” airport in the early 1970s. The account describes how views of national and local politicians clashed with one another and with private enterprise and the military to delay an increase in runway capacity around London. Needham details the political process through which an official decision was made to build on a problematic site in the Thames estuary, and how the plan was gradually abandoned through local resistance, technological change in aviation, and the passage of time. It is ironic that the political climate led to increased capacity at Heathrow as the solution, which with full benefit of hindsight now seems to have been obvious.

Other essays build on these public policy themes and the role of political factors in related decisions. Topics range from the rise of neoliberalism in effecting decisions within Britain's Conservative Party in the 1970s to issues of “workfare” and international humanitarianism. As a whole, Money and Markets serves as a tribute to Professor Daunton and his broad interests, and as a useful roadmap for future study of Britain's role in the global economy, past and present.