<p>This book was written at a time when the market for government stocks in London the gilt-edged market of the title had undergone a period of rapid innovation in the forms of its instruments – index-linked stocks variable rate stocks and other new types – and of methods of issue. This had been the response of a government that had needed to fund a massive public sector borrowing requirement despite its attempts to slash public expenditure. In the same period the opening of the London International Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE) with its 20-year gilt contract had introduced a new method for hedging risk for investment managers. This book charts and analyses these developments. </p>