The late Sir John Clapham's history of the Bank of England was written at the invitation of the authorities and was first published in 1944, to commemorate its 250th anniversary. It covers the bank's whole history from its foundation until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, with an epilogue, the bank as it is, which brings the story down to the period immediately before the Second World War. The treatment is chronological, and the two volumes trace in detail the growth of now familiar bank practices - the use of bills and discounts, the insurance of currency, the establishment of a reserve ratio, the use of cheques - and also record the role of the Bank in relation to contemporary political and economic happenings. While the author had full access to the records, this book is not an official history and no limitation was imposed on the selection of material or the expression of opinion.