Birth of a Global City: London in a Revolutionary World, 1789-1815

How the turmoil of revolution and war created the London we know today - the world’s first truly global city. The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars changed London beyond recognition, turning it into the capital of the world - the focal point of international finance and trade.Victory over France in 1815 ushered in the ‘British Century’: the next hundred years would be defined by Britain’s capitalist innovation and financial might, naval supremacy and imperial ambition. In this brilliant portrait of these pivotal years, Jerry White looks at how revolution and war on the Continent transformed the capital.While the manufacture of war materials brought wealth for some, high food prices led to bread riots.The war divided public opinion, with ultra-patriots clamouring for the defeat of ‘Bony’, while others sought to emulate the democratic reforms pioneered across the Channel.Crucially, the chaos and uncertainty on the Continent led to a mass flight of foreign bankers and merchants to