An introductory guide to stocks and shares by the British financial journalist Hartley Withers (1867-1950), a prolific author who wrote more than forty-two books on financial subjects.
Often compared to Bagehot, his work represented a stylistic turning point in economic writing: ‘His style was lucid and direct, and he had the capacity to surprise seekers after economic wisdom with some enlightening literary reference. His particular strength was an ability to make complex financial questions comprehensible to the lay reader. Withers had a great influence on the generation of financial journalists and writers who came after him. During his professional lifetime the characteristic arid, technical City article at the turn of the century was replaced by a broader view. He was, as one distinguished fellow professional later observed, ‘the first of a new kind of British financial journalist’. His thoughts were invariably expressed in plain forceful English, independent of business and City jargon’ (ODNB).
Dennistoun, Bubbles, Booms and Busts, 290.
