The Last Tycoons, a “vivid” account of the tumultuous evolution of Lazard, the investment bank, has narrowly beaten Alan Greenspan’s The Age of Turbulence to win the 2007 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award.

William Cohan’s high-octane history of the “the world’s most elite and enigmatic investment bank” was awarded the £30,000 prize at a gala dinner on Thursday night in London.