The Sixth Great Power

by Philip Ziegler

Published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1988, written by Philip Ziegler.

Genres: Finance, Nonfiction, History

430 pages, Hardcover

First published June 20, 1988

About the author

Philip Ziegler was a British biographer and historian known for his meticulously researched works on historical figures and events. After studying at Eton and New College, Oxford, he served in the British Foreign Service, with postings in Laos, South Africa, Colombia, and NATO. He later transitioned into publishing and writing, eventually becoming a distinguished biographer.
His notable works include Mountbatten: The Official Biography, Edward VIII: The Official Biography, and The Black Death. He also wrote about figures such as Lord Melbourne, Harold Wilson, and George VI. Over the years, Ziegler contributed to major publications like The Spectator, The Times, and History Today.
His personal life was marked by tragedy when his first wife was killed during a home invasion in Bogotá in 1967. He later remarried and continued his literary career until his passing in 2023 at the age of 93.

Reviews

[Stefan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neither a detailed history of the Baring family nor that of the bank, judging by the paper quality was probably printed as a kind of memorabilia 20 years ago. Ziegler repeats himself quite a bit jumping in time and space, failing to converge a stream of deals into a consistent and thrilling financial history. He also missed opportunity to align ledger entries along geopolitical developments of late 18th and early 19th century, which taking on account so close relationship between Barings and UK government might make quite an interesting read (don't get me wrong, snippets are there, but you need to do the work on your own to see the story emerging). The 1890 collapse of the house isn't as detailed as it should be (maybe people will finally learn how to handle such evens?) and of course there is nothing indicating that they will collapse once again, or will they? As Barings just re-emerged as an asset management, but that's another story...

[Pj Mensel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the Ferguson history of Rothschilds but easier to understand the complexities of this former financial powerhouse. Interesting to read from the perspective of Rothschild's (and JP Morgan's) major British competitors