As well as a history of The Economist, this book sheds light on the major economic, business and diplomatic issues of the last 150 years - from the Irish Famine (it did not know what to do) to women's suffrage (inconsistent), and from hanging (always against) to privatization (passionately for). The book is also an account of a group of men (and a few women - including the six sisters who owned it for almost 50 years). Starting with James Wilson (the founder), it includes Herbert Spencer, Asquith, Arnold Toynbee, Geoffrey Crowther, Barbara Ward Jackson and Isaac Deutscher. The most important, and most under-rated Victorian, was Walter Bagehot. Ruth Dudley Edwards is the author of The Best of Bagehot and 'The Economist' on America.