Depression to Decolonization

"Depression to Decolonization: Barclays Bank (DCO), 1926-1962", is the first major academic business history of a commercial bank's operations in the West Indies. Barclays Bank (DCO) was at that time the world's largest multinational bank with a branch network that spanned the Middle East, Africa, the Mediterranean and the British West Indies. Based upon the records of the bank, as well as Colonial Office records and other documentation, this history provides a detailed examination of the performance and strategies of the bank during periods of crisis and change in the West Indies. It provides a detailed examination of the bank's performance during the Depression years, as well as during the period of economic expansion in the region after 1940.The discussion covers the bank's products and services, the competitive challenges it faced from the Canadian banks, the regulatory environment in which it operated, its recruitment practices and organizational structure. Monteith's work provides for a better understanding of the history of the commercial banking activity in the region during this period, and in that regard helps to expand the scope of West Indian historiography into the field of business history, and by so doing, makes a significant contribution to the economic and social history of the West Indies during the first half of the twentieth century. Accessibly written, the book should appeal to those within and outside the academic community.