Greene King. A Business & Family History [signed] [first edition]

First edition, first impression. SIGNED, DATED AND INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR ON FFEP 'To Frank from Richard 12 August 1983, with thanks for a pleasant lunch & afternoon'. Some slight edge wear to top and bottom to jacket and spine, corners very slightly bruised, book reading ticket and Times article of 1984, about the brothers Graham Greene and Sir Hugh Greene (who belonged to the brewing family) tipped in, not price clipped (£12.50 & limited offer of £10.00), no other inscriptions, internally clean tight and square, overall a vg++ copy. 338pp. No industry provides more household names than Brewing. Greene King, now amongst the dozen largest firms in the trade, has been known to generations of beer drinkers in the East of England. The company traces its origins back to 1800 when Benjamin Greene began brewing in Bury St Edmunds. For many years his Westgate Brewery was no bigger than his rivals and Benjamin making an inadequate living for his family began a long connection with the West Indies (and the sugar and slave trade). His family were remarkably successful in different ways. His eldest son became a governor of the Bank of England. This book draws together the history of an archetypal thrusting Victorian family with an account of the brewery itself. Scarce signed.