Tower of Basel: The Shadowy History of the Secret Bank that Runs the World Paperback – Illustrated, 3 Jun. 2014

The author Adam Lebor's account of the establishment in 1930 of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) exposes it's shocking and unforgivable willingness to become Adolph Hitler's financial conduit and facilitator, enabling the pillaging of invaded states Gold and Currency Reserves.As thoroughly researched that the book so well demonstrates with the detailed history of BIS, no real clue is given as to the reason why the then Governor of the Bank of England, Montagu Norman should form such a dubious alliance and deep friendship with Hjalmar Schacht, a fanatical supporter of Hitler and the Nazi Party who served Hitler as President of the central state bank Reichsbank, and as Minister of Economics. It was this 'alliance' that was instrumental in BIS's formation and because of the unaccountable way it had been set up, it allowed the BIS to plunge into the murky world of giving assistance to a state that carried out such illegal, and barbarous acts against great swathes of humanity. It was unforgivable.After the war, and with widespread alarm at the role played by BIS as an adjunct to the Nazi Party, the Breton Woods Conference in 1944 decided that the BIS should be done away with, and yet somehow with much behind the scenes manoeuvring surprisingly involving John Maynard Keynes, the BIS was allowed to carry on.Since when, in order to obfuscate the past and to buff up it's image, BIS has 'morphed' into a hybrid mutation as the banker to Central Banks around the world, a self-acclaimed expert in the capital and liquidity ratios held by the commercial banking industry, and some fee earning financial regulatory and monitoring services. However, despite representing and deriving it's not inconsiderable income from Central Banks which are owned indirectly by billions of taxpayers worldwide, it hangs on to the veil of secrecy and almost total unaccountability that was adroitly inveigled by the founding fathers Messrs Montagu and Schacht. On the plus side BIS has an enviable reputation for lavishly entertaining the relative handful of the elite financiers and politicians given admittance to it's architecturally gauche offices in Basel.A very interesting and yet startling book, particularly the early years of BIS. Whether the BIS will ever be able to shake off it's image as 'Banker to The Gestapo' is doubtful other than through the passing of many more years and authors like Adam Lebor not publishing more books on the subject.

This book is well thought out and has introduced a lot more context to transnational finance pre and during the second world war, which I am sure that not many people knew about. It is, however, sometimes complex to understand and unnecessarily detailed. Despite this I am enjoying reading it at the moment and looking forward to the final few chapters.

I bought this because my work lets me know of the role that the BIS plays in modern financial policy making but I knew little of the institute itself. This is a history book not a financial one and its a good read, in fact if some of its core though historical characters were developed this could be misinterpreted as a good work of fiction.It started getting a bit anti Nazi in parts but that is its historical setting, it's a bit lacking in recent events but then it is subject to a 30 year secrecy rule. A good read worth buying.

The detailed history of The Bank for International Settlements and its role in financing the Nazi parties reconstruction prior to WWII should be more widely known. The continuation of this extraterritorial body and its continuing role in international banking poses profound moral questions which happily the author does not answer, thus avoiding yet another diatribe about “capitalism”. Well worth reading.

I used to cover the Bank for International Settlements as a financial journalist in the 1980s, so knew a fair amount of this story. But the immense details Adam LeBor brings shows how deeply involved the BIS was during WWII and immediately afterwards in protecting Nazi interests.What surprises me is to realise how much American financiers were implicated, both at the head of the BIS and in U.S. companies, banks and legal firms working to keep links with Nazi Germany going while American soldiers were making massive sacrifices on the battlefields against Germany.Besides concerning the BIS, this book is a fierce indictment of the conduct of American financial interests overall.The BIS is undemocratic, as LeBor points out, but it is so useful to behind-the-scenes international monetary cooperation, that it is likely to keep on going indefinitely. Some of the quiet measures taken by the BIS to help one crisis or another did impress me, I must admit. But at what moral cost?

I thought that this book was very hard work and I still have not finished the book but will try it later.

I knew Adam Lebor at university - just saying - and this is a well researched book which argues that the EU was cooked up by Wall Street and the Nazis with people like Monet playing a less important part than is generally admitted. The central thesis is that there is a growing class of international finance players who are pretty much unaccountable and terrifyingly powerful.

I took a "punt" on this book as i am generally not a fan of "conspiracy " books. I was pleasantly surprised. Mr LeBor has prduced a thought provoking book for the modern post 2010 banking debacle. It has levt me with much to ponder on with the realisation we are all impotent to the manipulation of the few.