Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Whether it's "all" depends on who "you" are - but excellent for most outsiders and debutantes May 2, 2008
Mr. Nicholas J Robertson (Kent, UK)
Chris Stoakes trained as a solicitor at Freshfields ( one of the "magic circle" City law firms), was marketing partners in a medium-sized City firm, and is now Head of Legal Training at Lovells (another very big one). In this the 2008/09 second edition, which seems to have been updated following the event of the "credit crunch" in early 2008 (references to sub-prime mortgages, for example), he provides an overview, a context and an often humorous analogy for just about every financial transaction in "the City", including the insurance market. The book is based on a series of training sessions that he has delivered over the years.
I came at this as a reasonably well informed outsider (I have never worked in the City of London, and probably never will) and found this is an excellent book to improve on my broad understanding of the financial markets. Whether it would be right for you will depend on how sophisticated your current understanding is. Stoakes places his book as follows: he starts by saying "I've had to cut corners, leave things out and tell a few fibs in the interests of getting the message across quickly and simply". At the end, under "Where Next?" he recommends The Economist's books on The City, Wall Street and "The Financial Markets" - written by Richard Roberts and Marc Levinson respectively - as "the next step up". He also gives specific recommendations for particular areas, such as Finance & banking, Investment Banking, Commercial banking, Economics, Risk etc.
If you want to be able to differentiate senior debt from junior or subordinated debt, know the principle of mezzanine debt, understand the difference between a merchant and an investment bank, or understand the difference between LIBOR and the base rate, this is the book for you. For my own purposes I see little need to delve deeper, although I may well read Stoakes' other book, "All you need to know about Commercial Awareness" in due course.
Good read October 17, 2007
JS (London)
This book is laid out in a very legible format for most users. It gives a good idea to the reader of what is out there in the financial markets. Would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants a flavour of things.
Chris has shown us the cards, what we need to do now is learn how to play them.
Informative, easy to digest, and, above all, interesting! June 13, 2007
Emma Peterson
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I came across this book when I was just starting out in the City and it helped me immensely. The author's conversational tone makes for a great read, and the book really does pack everything you need to know into 224 relaxed pages. I had a muddled understanding of how everything connected in the financial market, but this book completely demystified everything. I can now converse with City types about derivatives, hedge funds and securitisation without breaking a sweat!
I would highly recommend it to anyone working in the City - from newbies who are starting out and need to know what all the unfamiliar jargon means, to those who've been at it for a while but need to brush up or clarify something. This book will answer all the questions you were too embarrassed to ask without being patronising or going all 'boring textbook' on you.
Definitely a must-read.
Helpful and non confusing January 5, 2007
James Burgess
This book is great for those just about to head in to the city to work, those thinking about doing so but are scared or even people that have been in there for a while and need to brush up.
It answers so many questions that you'd feel embarassed to ask and does so delightfully - it's written simply and not like a textbook, it's actually enjoyable to read and you won't want to put it down.
However I would recommend looking elsewhere for a better price, I got mine on ebay for 9 inc. delivery!
This book helped me get a job. November 22, 2006
L. R. Bloomberg (London, England)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am a studying and working in the UK. I come from the US originally, and this book helped me
gain valuable knowledge about the financial interworkings of this great city I currently live, work, and play in.
I have tapped it as a valuable resource in job interviews, and have used it as a platform for many a discussion with prospective empoloyers.
I got the job I currently have by discussing, at great length, this book and the information it has imparted.
I strongly recommend it to anyone, jobseeker or not, who wishes to better understand the complex financial world of London.
The best thing this book does is to make that complex financial world easily digestible with simple, clear writing and appropriate case studies.
It's really a must-have.
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