Dudley Docker

This is an exploration of the life of Dudley Docker (1862-1944), one of the most powerful businessmen of his era. It sketches the life and times of Docker, describes the deals he fixed and recounts the rise and fall of the companies he directed.

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.

The very best writing on the Antarctic, from James Cook's eighteenth-century assertion that 'no man will ever venture further than I have done' to Lynne Cox's description of her epic, icy swim in the twenty-first century - 32 first-hand accounts of men and women challenging one of the Earth's last true wildernesses. Here you will find both legendary tales of heroism and startling contemporary accounts of the impact of global warming on the Earth's sole undeveloped continent, including: 'Dog Days' by Robert Falcon Scott 'The Loss of the Endurance' by Ernest Shackleton. 'Alone' by Richard E Byrd. 'The Killer under the Water' by Gareth Wood. 'Melting Point' by David Helvarg. 'Swimming to Antarctica' by Lynne Cox.

The First World War was above all a war of logistics. Whilst the conflict will forever be remembered for the mud and slaughter of the Western Front, it was a war won on the factory floor as much as the battlefield. Examining the war from an industrial perspective, Arming the Western Front examines how the British between 1900 and 1920 set about mobilising economic and human resources to meet the challenge of 'industrial war'. Beginning with an assessment of the run up to war, the book examines Edwardian business-state relations in terms of armament supply. It then outlines events during the first year of the war, taking a critical view of competing constructs of the war and considering how these influenced decision makers in both the private and public domains. This sets the framework for an examination of the response of business firms to the demand for 'shells more shells', and their varying ability to innovate and manage changing methods of production and organisation. The outcome, a central theme of the book, was a complex and evolving trade-off between the quantity and quality of munitions supply, an issue that became particularly acute during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. This deepened the economic and political tensions between the military, the Ministry of Munitions, and private engineering contractors as the pressure to increase output accelerated markedly in the search for victory on the western front. The Great War created a dual army, one in the field, the other at home producing munitions, and the final section of the book examines the tensions between the two as the country strove for final victory and faced the challenges of the transition to the peace time economy.

Sea stories are, plain and simple, wonderful springboards for vicarious adventure. There is nothing like a sea story to entertain, thrill, move, shock, or inspire a reader, and this collection will do just that. What is it about the sea that lends itself to so many indelibly classic stories? The sea is a wonderful stage on which to unroll a dramatic narrative or introduce a heroic character. It’s no wonder so many masterpieces are set on the seas of the world. From sublime moments gunkholing with Erskine Childers in “An Introduction to Informality” to sheer terror with the ill-fated men among sharks in Raymond B. Lech “The Loss of the Indianapolis” to astounding respect for the endurance of Ernest Shackelton and his storm-tossed men in “Escape from the Ice,” there is simply nothing that can compare to what awaits in this collection of twenty-eight thrilling stories. Many, having withstood the test of time and the vararies of popular culture are classics. Classic or not, the stories in this collection are good reading--breathtaking, entertaining, and offering myriad unexpected pleasures.

Ernest Shackleton led two Antarctic expeditions, and died shortly after the beginning of the third. His expedition ship Endurance was trapped, then crushed in the ice, before his party could be landed, leaving his men in a hopeless situation. For months Shackleton held his party together before taking to boats and bringing everyone to safety.

This first-person account of the Endurance crew's famed odyssey across the frozen Antarctic is a classic tale of survival, resolve, and leadership.