This neat volume not only tells the story of the foundation and growth of the numerous British banks that were absorbed at one time or another by the Bank of London and South America; it also describes the many difficulties confronted by these financial institutions in Latin America and summarizes other British-Latin American economic relations besides. Although its author prepared and published it at the “invitation” of the Board of Directors of the Bank of London and South America, he seems not to have “slanted” his narrative unduly in favor of these officials.
Based largely on memoirs and secondary works because the bulk of the financial records has been destroyed by flood, earthquake, termites, the demands and destruction of war, and other calamities, the book has the ring of honesty and reliability. With the strange exception of South American Journal and Stock Exchange Year-Book, most of the handbooks and specialized magazines dealing with the subject evidently have been consulted, along with the major secondary works. Unlike too many British authors of an earlier day, Professor Joslin, a young lecturer and tutor in Cambridge University, reveals adequate familiarity with the publications of American scholars dealing with the subject in hand. In fact, the writer of this review was flattered by the attention given by this author to one of his books and to the articles, monographs, and books of four of his former students: H.S. Perns, A. K. Manchester, John Melby, and Alfred Tischendorf.
Since the story of these British banks operating in Latin America is not a simple story, the reader is likely to suffer confusion unless he promptly consults the volume’s index, which very helpfully sketches the story of each bank from its founding until its liquidation or absorption and then prepares a list of the institutions involved, including appropriate dates. Having done this, he will be equipped to follow the narrative without great effort and with enjoyment, noting the fortunes and misfortunes of each bank and the problems and hazards encountered by all of them: civil war, economic depression, nationalism, prejudice, favoritism, corruption, global war, and other vexations.
The reader will not obtain from this book a clear view of the profits and losses of these British banks. Perhaps no such view can be presented on the basis of the data not available. But neither will the reader find here any sound basis for accusations of profiteering and exploitation, for the more often than otherwise the hazards appear to have outweighed the opportunities for handsome profits.
