Frankfurt as a financial centre

Frankfurt am Main, seat of many foreign and domestic banks (including the Bundesbank) and since 1998 also of the European Central Bank, is today among the most important financial centres in Europe. The city's history as a key location for banking and finance is not confined to the post-war years. Its beginnings go well back into the Early Modern period and even into the Middle Ages. Carl-Ludwig Holtfrerich shows how intricately that history is interwoven with the cultural, social and political development of Frankfurt. His book makes for fascinating reading and will appeal not just to economic historians but to anyone interested in the links between past and present.