Describes the intense commercial rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne over a period of 150 years. While Sydney was established nearly 50 years before Melbourne, the great wealth generated by the Victorian goldfields soon gave Melbourne an unassailable position as the continent's richest center of commerce. The story of this contest for commercial supremacy is based on Jim Bain's own long experience in the Australian financial-services industry, and particularly his exposure to the competition and fierce rivalry that existed between the leading Melbourne- and Sydney-based banks, merchant banks, fund managers and stockbrokers. Bain focuses on the roles played by several financial institutions--and key personalities--over many decades.