The State Bank of India, the premier banking institution of that country today, emerged with the reconstitution of the Imperial Bank in 1955. The evolution of the Bank from its earliest beginnings is examined here in meticulous and exciting detail by the distinguished economic historian Dr A.K. Bagchi, aided by a team of researchers in a work that is based not only on material generally available with the research libraries and archives of India and the UK, but also
the vast store of hitherto inaccessible primary material available with the State Bank of India itself.