What is wrong with today's banking system? The past few years have shown that risks in banking can impose significant costs on the economy. Many claim however that a safer banking system would require sacrificing lending & economic growth. The Bankers' New Clothes" examines this claim & the narratives used by bankers politicians & regulators to rationalize the lack of reform exposing them as invalid. Admati & Hellwig argue we can have a safer & healthier banking system without sacrificing any of the benefits of the system & at essentially no cost to society. They show that banks are as fragile as they are not because they must be but because they want to be
- & they get away with it. Whereas this situation benefits bankers it distorts the economy & exposes the public to unnecessary risks. Weak regulation & ineffective enforcement allowed the buildup of risks that ushered in the financial crisis of 2007-2009. Much can be done to create a better system & prevent crises. Yet the lessons from the crisis have not been learned. Admati & Hellwig seek to engage the broader public in the debate by cutting through the jargon of banking clearing the fog of confusion & presenting the issues in simple & accessible terms. " The Bankers' New Clothes" calls for ambitious reform & outlines specific & highly beneficial steps that can be taken immediately."
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On the south bank of the Thames & demarcated by Blackfriars & Tower Bridges lies the district known as Bankside the Borough & Southwark. Its origin was in a Roman settlement nestling around the southern end of London Bridge until the eighteenth century the only bridge across the Thames in London. Being separated only by the Thames from the City of London & outside the Citys jurisdiction it developed as a place for bawdy & disreputable entertainment & leisure
- including the Globe Theatre made famous by performing William Shakespeares plays. It was an area also sought out for its stews which were some of Londons most notorious brothels where every taste could be catered for. Borough High Street contained proportionately more inns & taverns than anywhere else in Britain
- & some were immortalised by Chaucer & Dickens. The George alone survives to give some idea of what these ancient hostelries were like. From a time when London was a collection of discrete districts & villages here is the long history of Bankside the metropoliss disreputable & licentious yet vibrant cosmopolitan underbelly.

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For someone who shuns the limelight so completely that he conceals his name never shows his face & gives interviews only by email Banksy is remarkably famous. From his beginnings as a Bristol graffiti artist his artwork is now sold at auction for six-figure sums & hangs on celebrities walls. The appearance of a new Banksy is national news his documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop was Oscar-nominated & people queue for hours to see his latest exhibition. Now more National Treasure than edgy outsider who is Banksy & how did he become what he is today? In the first attempt to tell the full story of Banksys life & career Will Ellsworth-Jones pieces together a picture of his world & unpicks its contradictions. Whether art or vandalism anti-establishment or sell-out Banksy & his work have become a cultural phenomenon & the question Who is Banksy? is as much about his career as it is the man behind the wall. Britains unlikeliest national treasure Independent A fascinating portrait that elicits admiration for a man who despite his increasingly unconvincing efforts to retain some shred of his vandal status has had an undeniable impact on art The Times ...

For someone who shuns the limelight so completely that he conceals his name never shows his face & gives interviews only by email Banksy is remarkably famous. From his beginnings as a Bristol graffiti artist his artwork is now sold at auction for six-figure sums & hangs on celebrities' walls. The appearance of a new Banksy is national news his documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop was Oscar-nominated & people queue for hours to see his latest exhibition. Now more National Treasure than edgy outsider who is Banksy & how did he become what he is today? In the first attempt to tell the full story of Banksy's life & career Will Ellsworth-Jones pieces together a picture of his world & unpicks its contradictions. Whether art or vandalism anti-establishment or sell-out Banksy & his work have become a cultural phenomenon & the question ' Who is Banksy?' is as much about his career as it is 'the man behind the wall'. ' Britain's unlikeliest national treasure' Independent 'A fascinating portrait that elicits admiration for a man who despite his increasingly unconvincing efforts to retain some shred of his vandal status has had an undeniable impact on art' The Times ...

The single best collection of photographs of Banksys street work. Period. You Are An Acceptable Level of Threat concentrates on this singular artists iconic imagery spanning the late 90s up until the end of 2011. The locations are from around the world (predominantly the UK US & Europe) & many images have never been seen before. When Banksy started out painting the political landscape was bleak. Fortunately now its ten times worse. As Banksys cheerfully aggressive political work becomes ever more relevant this comprehensive tome sets about presenting his art in the context of the era he was responding to. ...

The battle for the control of RJR Nabisco in the Autumn of 1988 which became the largest & most dramatic corporate takeover in American history sent shock-waves through the international business world & became a symbol of the greed excess & egotism of the eighties. Barbarians at the Gate" recounts this two-month battle with breathtaking pace & flair & transports back to the Wall Street empire before it crumbled through the boardroom doors into the midnight meetings the betrayals the deal makers & publicity flaks into a world where
- as Nabisco CEO Ross Johnson put it
- a few million dollars are lost in the sands of time. Twenty years on the world is once again recovering from a period of financial extravagance & irresponsibility. This revised edition brings the ultimate business thriller up to date for a new generation of readers."

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It is the eve of the French Revolution & England awaits with trepidation the news from the Continent that will propel her into war again after six years of peace. But Lieutenant James Hayter's orders from the Admiralty do not at first involve the sea. He must go inland to seek out his friend Captain William Rennie who has disappeared into the wilds of Dartmoor. When he finds Rennie alone & broken down in an isolated farmhouse Hayter fears the Captain will be unable to make the journey to London. Hayter has his own hopes of a command but these are cruelly dashed when they reach the capital where they find the sinister spymaster Sir Robert Greer is once more behind their deployment. They are to sail in HMS Expedient to the Mediterranean to assist Britain's ally Rashid Bey of Rabhet with Hayter yet again Rennie's second in comm&. So unprepared for what they will find on the dangerous Barbary Coast Expedient & the ten gun cutter Curlew sail into treacherous waters. The odds are daunting. They must make a show of defiance against the mighty corsair fleet of Rabhet's enemy the Dey of Tunis. Murky politics threatened mutiny desperate sea actions & imprisonment follow on the sweltering North African Coast where the rules of European warfare no longer apply & the victor will take everything. ...

Redesigned inside & out for its 10th anniversary The Barbecue! Bible" now

Includes:: full-colour photographs

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When Izgard of Garizon put on the Coil & crowned himself King he set in train a course of tumultuous events that would reverberate around the continent. For the Coil must have blood. & the first blood to flow is that of Berick of Thorn the legendary conqueror of Garizon. His son Camron wants revenge & knows that Izgard can only be stopped by force of arms. He seeks out the man who knows most about Izgard's murderous hordes
- Lord Ravis a ruthless mercenary with a dark & secret past. & Tessa Mc Camfrey is about to become caught up in this dangerous & exotic world
- with the piratical Ravis a beautifully patterned gold ring & a role to play in the momentous events that unfold. Look out for more information about this & other titles on the Orbit website at www.orbitbooks.co.uk

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The conventional picture of Allied POWs in the World War II prisoner-of-war camps is of escape attempts (Colditz & The Great Escape) or terrible brutality (the Far Eastern camps & The Bridge on the River Kwai). But what did the men really do all day? In fact as this extraordinary & acclaimed book shows British prisoners showed the most amazing ingenuity & determination to turn their camp into a hive of every kind of activity. ...