ABSTRACT
The expression Banking Revolution is used to describe the sudden and widespread appearance in the mid-nineteenth century of large joint-stock banks in continental Europe, but it is not applicable to Great Britain. The fact is that, ever since the beginning of the nineteenth century, and even the end of the eighteenth, she had a banking system that was much more advanced and sophisticated than that of any other country, which had evolved gradually since the end of the seventeenth century. It certainly underwent considerable changes in structure during the nineteenth century and many major innovations were introduced, while the system as a whole and the resources at its disposal enjoyed a massive expansion, unbroken by any sudden or dramatic upsets.
