Interior view of the Bank of England by Joseph Michael Gandy. Photo: Sir John Soane's Museum/Bridgeman ImagesDuring the 18th century, the British Empire rose to global dominance by developing a new model of organized government, one that proved especially effective at converting the wealth of a free society into the power of a fiscal-military state. At the heart of this system was the Bank of England, “the grand Palladium of Public Credit,” as the Bank’s inspectors described it in 1784.

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Persons: Joseph Michael Gandy, Sir John Soane's Organizations: Bank of England, Sir John Soane's Museum, Public Credit, ” Locations: British