Decline to Fall

`what distinguishes this book from many memoirs and diaries of the period, is its reliance on official documents rather than independently unverifiable comment. Decline to Fall's strength - as essential reading for poitical scientists, economists and economic historians - is clear. This lucid and scholarly account will also be a first port of call for future scholars of the period.' Public Service Magazine `The economic problems facing the UK in the mid-1970s were on a scale which is hard to imagine today, but the policy challenges and trade offs- arising from conflicting objectives, uncertain statistical data and capricious markets- still resonate. Douglas Wass's lucid and scholarly account is invaluable. It reflects extensive research as well as his first hand experience in steering the Treasury successfully through one of the most difficult periods in its history into the modern era. Decline to Fall should be essential reading for any economic policy maker.' Nicholas Macpherson, Permanent Secretary to the Treasury `This is a collectors item. We have ministerial memoirs aplenty from the 1970s but no official who sat in the eye of any of the great economic storms of the postwar years has produced anything that matches Douglas Wass on 1976. There is Sturm und Drang on every page and Sir Douglas is as critical of himself and his own in the Treasury as he is of the other players whether they be in the Cabinet Room, the Bank of England, or the International Monetary Fund.' Peter Hennessy, FBA, Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History, Queen Mary, University of London `This is the definitive and detailed account of one of the worst financial and political events to affect the United Kingdom in the past fifty years, the great IMF crisis of 1976. Any historian of the period will find this book indispensable.' Shirley Williams, The Baroness Williams of Crosby and Professor Emerita, Harvard University