This is a monumental tome – probably about 400,000 words. The longer the book, the smaller the incentive to read it – and even smaller the incentive to review it. But this book should not be missed. It is a mine of useful information on its topic. It is, in fact, the only book of its kind. There have been various surveys of business organizations in the past, particularly in the period 1920–60, when there was popular concern about cartels and their political influence. But most of this work focused on trade associations rather than chambers of commerce. This book discusses chambers of commerce right through from their origin to the present day. In this sense it is real history, because it provides a long view. This is no exercise in mere antiquarianism or parochialism about a particular chamber of commerce in a particular city at a particular time. It certainly examines individual cities – notably Liverpool – but it does so in a wider context of the economic changes, social transformations and political movements of the time.

A major contribution of the book is that it provides an analytical framework which explains the functions that chambers of commerce perform, and the role that they play within the economy. These functions are varied, the author shows. Many chambers have thrived at times of political controversy, when businesses in a particular region perceived themselves to face a common threat such as hostile legislation. This legislation might involve tighter regulation of local trades, the outlawing of restrictive trade practices or the dismantling of protection. Under these conditions, even local competitors will unite to face down a common enemy – the legislator and policy-maker. Policy can be influenced either by lobbying legislators directly, offering them advice from partisan experts, or bringing indirect pressure to bear on them through public opinion. Chambers are more than lobbyists, however: they are ‘one stop shops’ for business advice, and in this context are particularly useful to small firms. The chamber provides local firms with specialist services that would otherwise be costly to obtain – generic legal advice, statistical services, assistance with exhibiting at trade fairs and so on. They also provide a safe environment for social networking, organizing events where entrepreneurs can barter knowledge that is more useful to other people than it is to themselves.

This book provides other valuable insights. It identifies the earliest chambers and provides case-studies of their early vicissitudes. It analyses the geographical spread of chambers and the reasons for the diffusion of their institutional model. It examines in detail the membership of chambers and the ways in which they are governed. Chambers are an excellent example of local ‘economic clubs’, and the way these clubs are organized and financed is of general economic interest. To encourage members to pay their subscriptions, it is necessary to offer them access to exclusive services (to avoid the ‘free rider’ problem), and the way that exclusion is achieved (or in some cases fails to be achieved) is important for the survival of the ‘business model’ involved. Despite its size, therefore, and its wide geographical and temporal reach, this book provides the reader with a compelling intellectual framework with which to comprehend the economic logic of these under-researched institutions. While there is a huge amount of detail, the reader is successfully guided through by an author who, at all times, can ‘see the wood for the trees’. Some readers may feel that this book must represent the last word on this subject, but hopefully this will not be the case. It would better if it were the first word on the subject, and that it stimulated further research, which appears to be the author's wish. The references and bibliography provide an admirable route into the primary sources and secondary literature, and it is to be hoped that many readers will follow this route and build on the solid foundations laid by this book.