The Summit

December 1, 2014
The celebrated agreement that mapped the postwar world’s system of stable, convertible exchange rates and gave birth to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank was a dramatic, dicey affair, according to this lively history. The Bretton Woods Conference was held in New Hampshire at the end of WWII, conceived as an opportunity for the Allies to work together to hash out a new economic order. Sky News economics editor Conway frames the story as a showdown between the brilliant, abrasive British economist John Maynard Keynes, with his vision of an international currency and automatic mechanisms to alleviate international trade imbalances, and the Machiavellian U.S. Treasury official Harry Dexter White, whose more conservative plan won out—pointing to the ascendency of the U.S. over Great Britain as a global superpower toward the end of WWII. The two key players are surrounded by a menagerie of colorful characters, from Keynes’s wife Lydia, who scandalized conference goers by skinny dipping in the hotel’s pond, to the blustery, hard-drinking Soviet contingent (to whom White was suspected of passing secrets). Conway’s entertaining narrative gives a lucid, engaging rundown of underlying economic issues, although his case for the indispensability of the Bretton Woods system, which collapsed in the 1970s, is less than compelling. More illuminating is his portrayal of grand economic institutions as flawed, haphazard structures improvised by confused and exhausted bureaucrats. Photos.

February 1, 2015

During World War II, the Allies held several well-known bilateral and multilateral conferences, the largest yet least studied of which is Bretton Woods in July 1944. It has remained in the background compared to others since it was attended mostly by economists rather than political leaders. Nevertheless, representatives from 44 nations gathered in New Hampshire with the goal of tackling international monetary issues to avoid another global depression. British journalist Conway (economics editor, Sky News) steps into this hole. He has done extensive research, including the use of oral history and Soviet archives. The first half of the book deals with background material leading up to the conference, introducing its two major characters: renowned British economist John Maynard Keynes, and the obscure but talented American treasury department economist Harry Dexter White. Their task was to create what became the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The final half of the book deals with the tension between the United States and the UK--the former as the world's new major creditor nation and the latter having become the major debtor nation facing bankruptcy and the collapse of its empire. VERDICT This is a gripping story for both general readers and scholars interested in World War II, the Cold War, and domestic and international political economy. The author knows how to write for those who are less informed about economics while telling the history of the turbulent conference through its leading characters and updating its legacy today. An essential purchase on this topic.--William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., Shreveport

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