Ray Perman’s panoramic account of Edinburgh’s life as a financial capital is bookended by disasters – the ill-fated Darien adventure that led to Scotland’s Union with England and the 2008 collapse of the city’s two largest banks. The centuries between were ones of financial innovation, as wealth turned medieval squalor into Georgian affluence. He considers the visionaries, speculators and spivs who made it happen, while focusing on particular stories, including the financial ruin of Sir Walter Scott – and how he got out of it.

StageTEXT will be providing live surtitles for people with hearing loss at this event

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