The bank that lived a little: Barclays in the age of the very free market

Barclays is one of the biggest names on the British high street.

Based on unparalleled access to those involved, and told with thrilling pace and drama, this book is the story of Barclays since Big Bang, Britain's financial services revolution of 1986.

Philip Augar describes in detail three decades of boardroom intrigue driven by greed, ambition and a love of power, and by shifting alliances between rival camps - one desperate for Barclays to join the top table of global banks, the other preferring a smaller domestic role.

But this is much more than a corporate thriller and chronicle of personal feuds: Augar shows that Barclays' experiences are also a paradigm for Britain's social and economic life since the mid-80s.