High Financier

This lengthy biography of international financier Siegmund Warburg offers a unique view of history from 1930 to 1980 as seen through the filter of banking and finance. Biographer Ferguson focuses mainly on Warburg's development as a financier, his rise to prominence and worldwide influence, and his aspirations to join England, the U.S., and Western Europe in a mutually beneficial economic partnership. James Langton employs a clear, clipped voice for much of the narration, which provides the crisp pacing the text lacks. His attempts at accents for quoted passages from Warburg and others, however, sound awkward and artificial. Still, this is a well-written, broadly sourced look at a brilliant financier. M.O.B. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine