The City of London is a wonderful place to study human nature in action, and no one has studied it more keenly than Christopher Fildes!A City Spectator introduces us to the heroes and villains (from the Queen Mother to Robert Maxwell), Chancellors and Bank Governors of the City of London. We are invited to enjoy $2 martinis and 8-euro kirs and to experience the gravy train of the international boondoggle* circuit.We watch the City at work, and get thoughtful opinions on its extracurricular the travails of transport (with I.K. Gricer, Fildes' man on-and frequently off-the rails), tales from the track (with racing correspondent Captain Threadneedle) and thoughts on the absurdities of the housing market-and why it might be time to move into the Ritz!* coined 1929 by Robert H. Link (d.1957) A wasteful or impractical project or activity, often involving graft. (Merriam-Webster's Dictionary)Christopher Fildes' weekly City and Suburban column in The Spectator on the follies and eruptions of markets and boardrooms-peppered with jokes, literary references, character sketches and satirical proposals-has been required reading for over twenty years. A City Spectator is a selection of the very capital to a bank is like giving a gallon of beer to a you know what will come of it, but you can't know which wall he will choose. I never thought that, this time, the banks would choose a hedge.Some boardrooms have potted plants in them and some have non-executive directors. The question in either case are they there for use or for ornament?My city host at Corney & Barrow insisted on ordering the Julienas. 'Look how the wine list describes it, he said, 'just like rich, powerful and aromatic.For more than a quarter of a century, Christopher Fildes has delighted his readers with a unique combination of fine writing and pithy comments. In his case, wit and wisdom go together. Throughout it all, Christopher has remained a sharp and perceptive observer of both institutions and people-a true City Spectator.-Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England.
Christopher Fildes Ordine dei libri (cronologico)
