C. D. Foster, R. Jackman and M. Perlman, Local Government Finance in a Unitary State, George Allen and Unwin, Hemel Hempstead, 1980. viii+634 pp. £27.50 - Tyrrell Burgess and Tony Travers, Ten Billion Pounds: Whitehall's Takeover of the Town Halls, Grant McIntyre, London, 1980. 208 pp. £4.95 - Arthur Seldon (ed.), Town Hall Power or Whitehall Pawn?, The Institute of Economic Affairs, London, 1980. xii+154 pp. £3.00.