The Bank That Lived a Little: Barclays in the Age of the Very Free Market
by Philip Augar  (Author)

About the Author
Philip Augar, a former banker with a doctorate in history, is the author of several previous books including the celebrated The Death of Gentlemanly Capitalism. He has held numerous public and private sector directorships, and contributes regularly to the Financial Times and the BBC.

Book Description
Barcalys is one of the biggest names on the British high street. Based on unparalleled access to those involved, and told with thrilling pace and drama, Barclays- The Bank that Lived a Little is the story of Barclays since Big Bang, Britain's financial services revolution of 1986. Philip Augar describes in detail three decades of boardroom intrigue driven by greed, ambition and a love of power, and by shifting alliances between rival camps - one desperate for Barclays to join the top table of global banks, the other preferring a smaller domestic role.
But this is much more than a corporate thriller and chronicle of personal feuds- Augar shows that Barclays' experiences are also a paradigm for Britain's social and economic life since the mid-80s. The financial services revolution saw the City move from the edge of the economy to its very centre, creating unprecedented prosperity and then blowing it all away, making governments' reputations and then leaving them in ruins. The decade of austerity, the rise and fall of governments, the leveraged society, and the winner-takes-all mentality can all be traced to the influence of banks such as Barclays. Augar's book tells this extraordinary story from the perspective of many of the participants and also of those affected by the grip they came to have on Britain.

Table of Contents
PART I The Rise and Fall of BZW, 1983–97
    1. Lord Camoys’ Dream, 1983
    2. The Golden Ticket: BZW, 1985–95
    3. The Scholar’s Tale, 1986–93
    4. The Changing of the Guard, 1994
    5. A Dark Night in Essex, 1995
    6. The Dumb Money, 1996
    7. In Memoriam BZW, 1997
PART II Groupthink, 1998–2007
    8. Diamond’s Halo Slips, 1998
    9. Middleton’s Law, 1998
    10. Matt Barrett’s Master Class, 1999
    11. Diamond or Varley, 2003
    12. The Big Vision, 2004
    13. Dutch Courage, 2007
PART III Coronation, 2008–11
    14. Twilight of the Gods, 2008
    15. Night Falls, 16 September–13 October 2008
    16. When Amanda Met Roger, 2008
    17. Antiques Roadshow, 2009
    18. Crown of Thorns, 2010
PART IV Humiliation, 2011–17
    19. Thin Ice, 2011
    20. A Boardroom Row, 2012
    21. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, 2012
    22. A Complete Mess, 2012
    23. ‘Barclays is not the place for you,’ 2015
    24. The Second Coming of Jes Staley, 2016
Epilogue: And Then
Illustrations
Appendices
    i. Barclays Board Members, 1986–2017
    ii. Barclays Share Price, 2007–17

Length: 416 pages
Publisher: Penguin UK (July 5, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780241335970
ISBN-13: 978-0241335970