This collective book offers a panorama of the history of tax evasion, tax avoidance and tax havens from the nineteenth century to the present day, based on the latest research in contemporary history. It aims to show that this phenomenon is at the heart of global capitalism, partly as a response of the ruling classes to the rise of progressive taxation, but for other reasons too: notably the development of a powerful tax evasion and avoidance industry in different countries. The book argues that tax competition between states has stimulated the development of tax havens. It discusses the notion of the tax haven and proposes a more rigorous concept - that of the tax predator. Finally, the book sheds light on the socio-political conflicts that have developed around tax evasion and the way in which states have fought against or tolerated the phenomenon.

Sébastien Guex is Full Professor of History at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. His research interests lie in social, economic and political history, and he has studied public finance, taxes, and tax havens - in particular the Swiss tax haven. He is a member of the federal commission in charge of the publication of the Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland series. Finally, he is one of the founders, in 2002, of one of the most influential NGOs on tax policy at the international level, the Tax Justice Network (TJN).

Hadrien Buclin is a part-time Lecturer at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He was also, in 2017-2019, a visiting research fellow at Paris 1 University. His research focuses on the social and political history of Switzerland in the twentieth century. He is the author of Les intellectuels de gauche: critique et consensus dans la Suisse daprès-guerre (1945-1968) (2019), as well as several scientific papers.

Chapter 1. Introduction. Tax predators rather than tax havens: new perspectives on the history of the international tax evasion and avoidance market (Sébastien Guex).- Part 1. Emergence and Expansion of Tax Havens.- Chapter 2. The Emergence and Expansion of Tax Havens, 1850-2000: Insights From a New Dataset (Sébastien Laffite).-Chapter 3. Emergence and Expansion of the Swiss Tax Haven: The Tax Privileges for Rich Foreigners in the Canton of Vaud, 1840-1959 (Vivien Ballenegger).- Chapter 4. Emergence of, and Threats to, the Belgian Tax Haven during La Belle Epoque, 1890-1914 (Simon Watteyne) .- Chapter 5. The Oil Multinational Shell. A History of Tax Dodging via Tax Havens, Political Pressure and Other Ways, 1914-1974 (Tijn van Beurden) .- Chapter 6. Swedish Emigration to Switzerland in the 1960s-1980s Period: Tax Exile and Settlement Choices (Thibaud Giddey and Mikael Wendschlag) .- Chapter 7. The Rise of Tax Havens and Conduit Countries From the Early 2000s (Arjan Lejour) .- Chapter 8. Luxury Freeports as Purpose-Built Conduits for Tax Evasion, 1990-2020 ( Chloe Fyfe).- Part 2. Tax Evasion: Extent, Causes, and Conflicts.- Chapter 9. Income Tax Evasion and Avoidance in Germany, 1850-1920 (Marc Buggeln) .- Chapter 10. Volume, Social Distribution, and the Instrumentalisation of Tax Evasion in Switzerland: the Case of Zurich, 1860-1945 (Sylvain Praz).- Chapter 11. War Profits and Tax Evasion. Italian Fiscal Policies in the First World War and After the War, 1915-1924 (Fabio Ecca).- Chapter 12. Tax Compliance in a Crisis: Evidence from the Great Depression, 1929-1936 (Sacha Dray).- Part 3. Fighting Tax Evasion and Tax Havens?.- Chapter 13. Criminalizing Tax Evasion in France, Early 19th century-2008 (Katia Weidenfeld).- Chapter 14. These Patriots who Misuse the Law: The Background to the United Kingdoms Anti-Tax Haven Legislation of 1936 (James Hollis).- Chapter 15. Tax Evasion as Seen by French Tax Administrations from the 1920s to the 1970s: Pragmatism in Action (Béatrice Touchelay).- Chapter 16. Detecting Ordinary Tax Evaders: the Example of the 1945 National Solidarity Tax in France (Isabelle Rabault-Mazières).- Chapter 17. Tax Education After WWII: How Spain, the USA and West Germany Tried to Make Their Citizens Pay Honestly (Korinna Schönhärl, Nasrin Düll, Nadya Melina Ramírez Lugo)