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The Battle of Bretton Woods
- John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White, and the Making of a New World Order
- Narrated by: Philip Rose
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
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Publisher's summary
When turmoil strikes world monetary and financial markets, leaders invariably call for "a new Bretton Woods" to prevent catastrophic economic disorder and defuse political conflict. The name of the remote New Hampshire town where representatives of 44 nations gathered in July 1944, in the midst of the century's second great war, has become shorthand for enlightened globalization. The actual story surrounding the historic Bretton Woods accords, however, is full of startling drama, intrigue, and rivalry, which are vividly brought to life in Benn Steil's epic account.
Upending the conventional wisdom that Bretton Woods was the product of an amiable Anglo-American collaboration, Steil shows that it was in reality part of a much more ambitious geopolitical agenda hatched within President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Treasury and aimed at eliminating Britain as an economic and political rival. At the heart of the drama were the antipodal characters of John Maynard Keynes, the renowned and revolutionary British economist, and Harry Dexter White, the dogged, self-made American technocrat. Bringing to bear new and striking archival evidence, Steil offers the most compelling portrait yet of the complex and controversial figure of White - the architect of the dollar's privileged place in the Bretton Woods monetary system, who also, very privately, admired Soviet economic planning and engaged in clandestine communications with Soviet intelligence officials and agents over many years.
A remarkably deft work of storytelling that reveals how the blueprint for the postwar economic order was actually drawn, The Battle of Bretton Woods is destined to become a classic of economic and political history.
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Important and Intriguing
- By Jean on 11-02-15
By: Roger Lowenstein
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The Summit
- Bretton Woods, 1944: J. M. Keynes and the Reshaping of the Global Economy
- By: Ed Conway
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The meeting of world leaders at Bretton Woods in 1944 was the only time countries from around the world agreed to overhaul the structure of the international monetary system. The system they set up presided over the longest, strongest, and most stable period of growth the world economy has ever seen.
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Big insights, crisp and clear
- By Philo on 09-14-16
By: Ed Conway
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Tower of Basel
- The Shadowy History of the Secret Bank that Runs the World
- By: Adam LeBor
- Narrated by: John Mawson
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Tower of Basel is the first investigative history of the world’s most secretive global financial institution. Based on extensive archival research in Switzerland, Britain, and the United States, and in-depth interviews with key decision-makers including Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve; Sir Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England; and former senior Bank for International Settlements managers and officials.
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Such enthralling true information
- By Joe Leiman on 12-24-18
By: Adam LeBor
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All the Presidents' Bankers
- The Hidden Alliances That Drive American Power
- By: Nomi Prins
- Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin
- Length: 19 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Nomi Prins ushers us into the intimate world of exclusive clubs, vacation spots, and Ivy League universities that binds presidents and financiers. She unravels the multi-generational blood, intermarriage, and protégé relationships that have confined national influence to a privileged cluster of people. This unprecedented history of American power illuminates how financiers have retained their authoritative position through history, swaying presidents regardless of party affiliation.
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You better like history about the elite and rich
- By Victor on 01-12-15
By: Nomi Prins
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And the Weak Suffer What They Must?
- Europe's Crisis and America's Economic Future
- By: Yanis Varoufakis
- Narrated by: Yanis Varoufakis, Leighton Pugh
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In January 2015, Yanis Varoufakis, an economics professor teaching in Austin, Texas, was elected to the Greek parliament with more votes than any other member of parliament. He was appointed finance minister, and, in the whirlwind five months that followed, everything he had warned about was confirmed as the "troika" (the European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund, and European Commission) stonewalled his efforts to resolve Greece's economic crisis.
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interesting perspective
- By Jamila on 07-12-20
By: Yanis Varoufakis
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Collapse
- The Fall of the Soviet Union
- By: Vladislav M. Zubok
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 23 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
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Performance
-
Story
In 1945, the Soviet Union controlled half of Europe and was a founding member of the United Nations. By 1991, it had an army four million strong, 5,000 nuclear-tipped missiles, and was the second biggest producer of oil in the world. But soon afterward, the union sank into an economic crisis and was torn apart by nationalist separatism. Its collapse was one of the seismic shifts of the 20th century.
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Hopefully Not Prescient
- By Joshua on 01-29-22
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Volcker
- The Triumph of Persistence
- By: William L. Silber
- Narrated by: Ross Douglas
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Over the course of nearly half a century, five American presidents - three Democrats and two Republicans - have relied on the financial acumen, and the integrity, of Paul A. Volcker. During his tenure as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, when he battled the Great Inflation of the 1970s, Volcker did nothing less than restore the reputation of an American financial system on the verge of collapse.
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Required Reading for 2022 Economy
- By Marc Uknis on 11-19-22
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The Alchemists
- Three Central Bankers and a World on Fire
- By: Neil Irwin
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Neil Irwin’s The Alchemists is a gripping account of the most intense exercise in economic crisis management we’ve ever seen, a poker game in which the stakes have run into the trillions of dollars. The book begins in, of all places, Stockholm, Sweden, in the 17th century, where central banking had its rocky birth, and then progresses through a brisk but dazzling tutorial on how the central banker came to exert such vast influence over our world, from its troubled beginnings to the age of Greenspan, bringing the listener into the present with a marvelous handle on how these figures and institutions became what they are.
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Couldn't Listen to this narrator
- By Donald on 07-23-13
By: Neil Irwin
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Lords of Finance
- The Bankers Who Broke the World
- By: Liaquat Ahamed
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is commonly believed that the Great Depression that began in 1929 resulted from a confluence of events beyond any one person's or government's control. In fact, as Liaquat Ahamed reveals, it was the decisions made by a small number of central bankers that were the primary cause of the economic meltdown, the effects of which set the stage for World War II and reverberated for decades.
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interesting insight into interwar period!
- By Toru on 11-27-09
By: Liaquat Ahamed
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Over Here
- The First World War and American Society
- By: David M. Kennedy
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 17 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Great War of 1914-1918 confronted the United States with one of the most wrenching crises in the nation's history. It also left a residue of disruption and disillusion that spawned an even more ruinous conflict scarcely a generation later. Over Here is the single most comprehensive discussion of the impact of World War I on American society.
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Good HISTORY AWFUL READING
- By Magyar on 02-05-20
By: David M. Kennedy
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The Oil Kings
- How the U.S., Iran, and Saudi Arabia Changed the Balance of Power in the Middle East
- By: Andrew Scott Cooper
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 19 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Struggling with a recession... European nations at risk of defaulting on their loans... A possible global financial crisis. It happened before, in the 1970s. The Oil Kings is the story of how oil came to dominate U.S. domestic and international affairs. Brilliantly reported and filled with astonishing details about some of the key figures of the time, this is the history of an era that we thought we knew, an era whose momentous reverberations still influence events at home and abroad today.
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Great story, but ignores the economic side
- By Walter on 04-15-12
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The New Deal
- A Modern History
- By: Michael Hiltzik
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 19 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
As America struggles with an economic debacle akin to the Great Depression, nothing could be timelier than an authoritative account of the New Deal, masterfully written by Michael Hiltzik, author of the acclaimed history of the Hoover Dam, Colossus.
In this richly peopled, vividly rendered narrative, Hiltzik describes how the urgent short-term relief measures of Franklin Roosevelt’s Hundred Days evolved into a transformative concept of the federal role in American life.
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Another Excellent New Deal History
- By R.S. on 12-19-11
By: Michael Hiltzik
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The Price of Greatness
- By: Jay Cost
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In the history of American politics, there are few stories as enigmatic as that of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison's bitterly personal falling out. Together they helped bring the Constitution into being, yet soon after the new republic was born, they broke over the meaning of its founding document. Hamilton emphasized economic growth; Madison the importance of republican principles. Author Jay Cost is the first to argue that both men were right - and that their quarrel reveals a fundamental paradox at the heart of the American experiment.
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Principles in Tension
- By William Ehrich on 06-13-18
By: Jay Cost
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The Power and Independence of the Federal Reserve
- By: Peter Conti-Brown
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The independence of the Federal Reserve is considered a cornerstone of its identity, crucial for keeping monetary policy decisions free of electoral politics. But do we really understand what is meant by "Federal Reserve independence"? Using scores of examples from the Fed's rich history, The Power and Independence of the Federal Reserve shows that much common wisdom about the nation's central bank is inaccurate.
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Meandering, gossipy, a bit pop-journalistic
- By Philo on 10-03-16
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Adults in the Room
- My Battle with the European and American Deep Establishment
- By: Yanis Varoufakis
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 20 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
What happens when you take on the establishment? In Adults in the Room, renowned economist and former finance minister of Greece Yanis Varoufakis gives the full, blistering account of his momentous clash with the mightiest economic and political forces on earth.
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Very interesting but listen with caution.
- By Dimitris on 10-08-19
By: Yanis Varoufakis
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A must read for post COVID-19 crisis
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What listeners say about The Battle of Bretton Woods
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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- Joe Adkins
- 10-08-17
Great documented case of Bretton Woods
Very insightful and great history of Bretton Woods and wartime currency deals. If you are into politics, you'll love this book.
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- My2cents
- 09-17-19
Have an interest in history or macroeconomics?
The Battle of Bretton Woods
As a lay person with an interest in international finance and macroeconomics I found this book to be extremely enlightening and easy to listen to. It is a very thorough account of how International commerce was set up after World War II. The subject matter can be complicated so it is important to give it to your full concentration. But I feel it was well worth the time and I would even like to revisit it again at some point in the future.
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- Craig VanGrasstek
- 06-29-18
Economic rigor with a dash of thriller
A fitting prequel to his later examination of the Marshall Plan, Benn Steil’s review of the economic and political issues surrounding the Bretton Woods conference combines a tour de horizon of the allies’ policy challenges with compelling biographies of the conference’s two leading characters. John Maynard Keynes is usually the most attention-grabbing character in any story where he played a part, but in this one he is upstaged by the as-yet unresolved questions surrounding the relationship between Harry Dexter White and Soviet intelligence. Even listeners who might ordinarily shy away from the intricacies of international economics will find this tale engaging and enlightening.
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- James Pritchett
- 05-29-13
Fascinating!
If you could sum up The Battle of Bretton Woods in three words, what would they be?
Personality, talent, and guile clearly come to mind for me. These were two extraordinary men faced with the difficult challenges of their time.
What other book might you compare The Battle of Bretton Woods to and why?
I find this book unique in that Ben Steil does such a wonderful job of analyzing the two men and their impacts. Then he takes it a significant step further as he measures that impact through the years. Analysis of history and personalities is one thing, but the application of that thorough and detailed analysis through the succeeding years is a remarkable and extraordinary. I have seen the technique used before, but in this case I found it rich and rewarding!
Which character – as performed by Philip Rose – was your favorite?
I would have to focus on John Maynard Keynes as my favorite. I have always viewed him as a significant but somewhat obscure economic genius. To see this extraordinary talent presented and explained in such rich detail raises the man much higher on my pedestal, and I now can clearly see why his name remains a focus, even today. While I was very impressed with Harry White and his own remarkable talents as an economist, I got the feeling that he lapsed into the role of the government technocrat which reduced the shine of his own brilliance.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
At times I laughed at the comments and actions of the two central characters. Harry White's involvement with subversive Communists did leave me blue, and Keynes death at 62 was a major and sad tragedy in my eyes. Even White's death at an early age due to heart attack was a tragedy as I feel it was at least in part brought on by the huge pressure of his mistakes and associations.
Any additional comments?
This is a wonderful, insightful, and well presented documentary of an event and the people involved which finally recognizes the major impact of that event. Bretton Woods was a historic watershed event of its time. The prime characters were at times giants among other men. This is a must read book!
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- cjvisokey
- 10-16-13
Dry history
Would you try another book from Benn Steil and/or Philip Rose?
This book was OK but the narrator was staccato and hard to listen to. The book could have focused more on Bretton Woods and not skip around chronologically.
Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Philip Rose?
Anybody
If this book were a movie would you go see it?
No
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- Chris
- 09-20-14
I kept daydreaming during the listen
Is there anything you would change about this book?
The story line did not have content to keep you interested
What could Benn Steil have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
Creating a better storyline or plot. It seamed the booked was a massive essay that was converted to an audio book
If this book were a movie would you go see it?
not with the current plot.
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- S T
- 07-27-20
A magnificent retelling of monetary revolution
I cannot recommend this book enough. A succinct summary would be to listen to Arthur Jensen's speech from "Network" (1976)
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- Charlie Betts
- 02-10-22
Worried about the New World Order?
We've been there and we've have done that. Here's how it all happened! Strap in and take a ride through the history of the International Monetary Fund and our global economy before and after WWII. Learn how this has impacted our lives today.
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- Nic
- 08-06-19
very insightful
truly amazing research here -- definitely assigning it to my students. some funny pronunciations of names and foreign words.
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- Neil
- 04-23-13
Is this a mystery, a history or an economics book?
What made the experience of listening to The Battle of Bretton Woods the most enjoyable?
I liked all three books in one. If you want to know what the gold bugs, Federal Reserve, economists and the currency warriors are thinking read this book. Reality is stranger than life. The American seeking financial discipline at Bretton was a Russian spy. The Englishman seeking a phony money currency to bail out indebted nations was John Maynard Keynes. The same scenario plays out today: austerity or. funny money or a mix. Inflation or deflation, that's part of the mystery we all all living with. But to really get it, you have to know a little history. Terrific narration too.
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10 people found this helpful