Can the lessons of the past help us to prevent another banking
collapse in the future? This is the first book to tell the story of the rise
and fall of British banking stability in the past two centuries, and it sheds
new light on why banking systems crash and the factors underpinning banking
stability. John Turner shows that there were only two major banking crises in
Britain during this time: the crisis of 1825–6 and the Great Crash of
2007–8. Although there were episodic bouts of instability in the interim, the
banking system was crisis-free. Why was the British banking system stable for
such a long time and why did the British banking system implode in 2008? In
answering these questions, the book explores the long-run evolution of bank
regulation, the role of the Bank of England, bank rescues and the need to hold
shareholders to account.