On prayer, birds and dry heaving - the testing of Henry Paulson

Frequent prayer, interludes of bird-watching and a timely outbreak of dry heaves helped Henry Paulson save the American financial system from collapse, in spite of a stark lack of co-operation from Britain, according to a newly published memoir from President Bush's treasury secretary. Written as a staunch defence of his handling of Lehman's failure, Bear Stearns' collapse, AIG's rescue and other events in the epochal financial crisis, Paulson's book, "On the Brink", contains a handful of colourful...