Cirrus@Austlit

'James D Wolfensohn is one of the business world's most successful and unconventional figures - an ex-pat Aussie and former World Bank President who has gone on to channel his personal success into the struggle against poverty.

'In this illuminating autobiography, co-written with award-winning journalist Jill Margo, Wolfensohn recounts his early life in Sydney; climbing the ladder as a prominent banker in London and then New York; his pursuits as an Olympic fencer and a skilled cellist; and his astounding ten-year tenure as President of the World Bank from 1995 to 2005.

'A blunt, incisive and colourful figure, Wolfensohn earned a reputation for brilliant and effective leadership in both the private and non-profit sectors, and here for the first time speaks candidly about the anti-Semitism he faced as a Jew in the UK merchant banking world, what it's like to be an unknown Aussie on the world financial stage, and just how he achieved his dizzying success.

'Spanning his extraordinary 40-year career, A Global Life is the inspiring story of a truly visionary financier and philanthropist.' (From the publisher's website.)