David Kynaston

Kynaston was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire and New College, Oxford, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in modern history in 1973.^[1] He was awarded a PhD from the London School of Economics for his 1983 thesis on the history of the London Stock Exchange.^[4][5] Kynaston became a visiting professor at Kingston University in 2001,^[1] and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2010.^[6]

In 2007, Kynaston published Austerity Britain, 1945–1951, to much acclaim.^[7] The book consists of two volumes–A World To Build and Smoke In the Valley–that together constitute the first in a projected series of six books entitled Tales of a New Jerusalem, chronicling the history of Great Britain from the end of World War II in 1945 to the ascension of Margaret Thatcher in 1979.^[3] Austerity Britain was named "Book of the Decade" by The Sunday Times.^[8]

Family Britain (2010) is the second book in the series, covering the period from 1951 to the Suez Crisis of 1956, and was released as a single volume containing two parts–The Certainties Of Place and A Thicker Cut.^[9] It was Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4 for the week of 23 November 2009, read by Dominic West.^[10]

The third book in the series, Modernity Britain, covering the years 1957–62, was published as two volumes–Opening The Box in June 2013 and A Shake Of The Dice in 2014.^[11][12]

The first volume of the fourth book, A Northern Wind, covering the years 1962–65, was published on 28 September 2023.^[13]

As of April 2026, Kynaston has authored over 30 books either alone or jointly with other authors.

• King Labour: British Working Class, 1850–1914, 1976, ISBN 978-0-429-78620-4
• Shots In The Dark: A Diary of Saturday Dreams and Strange Times, 1978, ISBN 978-1-5266-2302-7
• The Secretary of State, 1978, ISBN 978-0-900963-80-3
• The Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1980, ISBN 978-0-900963-97-1
• Bobby Abel: Professional Batsman, 1857–1936, 1982, ISBN 978-0-436-23951-9
• Archie's Last Stand: M.C.C. in New Zealand 1922–23: Being an Account of Mr. A. C. MacLaren's tour and His Last Stand, 1984, ISBN 978-0-356-10548-2
• The Financial Times: a centenary history, 1988, ISBN 978-0-670-81295-0
• WG's Birthday Party, 1990, ISBN 978-0-7011-3496-9
• Cazenove & Co.: a history, 1991, ISBN 978-0-7134-6059-9
• The City of London, Volume I: A World of Its Own, 1815–90, 1995, ISBN 978-1-4481-1229-6
• The City of London, Volume II: Golden Years, 1890–1914, 1995, ISBN 978-1-4481-1230-2
• LIFFE: A Market and its Makers, 1997, ISBN 978-1-85757-056-4
• The City of London, Volume III: Illusions of Gold, 1914–45, 1999, ISBN 978-1-4481-1231-9
• Phillips and Drew: Professionals in the City (with William Joseph Reader), 2001, ISBN 978-0-7090-6292-9
• City State: A Contemporary History of the City and How Money Triumphed (with Richard Roberts), 2001, ISBN 978-1-84765-043-6
• The City of London, Volume IV: Club No More (with Will Sulkin), 1945–2000, 2002, ISBN 978-1-4481-1232-6
• The Bank of England: Money, Power, and Influence 1694–1994, 2002 (editor, with Richard Roberts, ISBN 978-0-19-828952-4
• City of London, 1815-2000, 2004, ISBN 978-1-4481-1472-6
• Austerity Britain, 1945–51, 2007, ISBN 978-1-4088-0907-5, reprinted as:
  • Austerity Britain: A World to Build, 1945–48, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7475-8540-4
  • Austerity Britain: Smoke in the Valley, 1948–51, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7475-9228-0
• Family Britain, 1951–57, 2009, ISBN 978-1-4088-0349-3
• City of London: The History, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4481-1472-6
• Modernity Britain, 1957–62, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4088-4438-0, reprinted as:
  • Modernity Britain: Opening the Box, 1957–59, 2013, ISBN 978-0-7475-8893-1^[14][15]
  • Modernity Britain: A Shake of the Dice, 1959–62, 2014, ISBN 978-1-4088-4440-3
• The Lion Wakes: A Modern History of HSBC (with Richard Roberts), 2015, 978-1847658975
• Till Time's Last Sand: A History of the Bank of England 1694–2013, 2017, ISBN 978-1-4088-6858-4
• Arlott, Swanton and the Soul of English Cricket (with Stephen Fay), 2018, ISBN 978-1-4088-9539-9
• Engines of Privilege: Britain's private school problem (with Francis Greenwood), 2019, ISBN 978-1-5266-0127-8^{[16][17][18][19]}
• London's Square Mile: A Secret City (with Polly Braden), 2019, ISBN 978-1-910566-44-2
• On the Cusp: Days of '62, 2021, ISBN 978-1-5266-3202-9
• Banker and Philanthropist: A Portrait of Anthony de Rothschild, 2022, ISBN 978-0-903696-56-2
• A Northern Wind: Britain 1962–65, 2023, ISBN 978-1-5266-5756-5
• Richie Benaud's Blue Suede Shoes: The Story of an Ashes Classic (with Harry Ricketts), 2024, ISBN 978-1-5266-7030-4