Lords of Finance
The Bankers Who Broke the World (pulitzer Prize Winner)
Penguin Publishing Group · Print & ebook · December 29, 2009
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize “A magisterial work.” —New York Times Book Review “The rich and charming story of the end of the world.” —TIME “Highly readable.” —Financial Times “This absorbing study of the first collective of central bankers is provocative, not least because it is still relevant.” —The Economist It is commonly believed that the Great Depression that began in 1929 resulted from a confluence of events beyond any one person's or government's control.
We earn from qualifying purchases.
- Who it’s for
- A readable account of finance’s human machinery, pitched between classroom clarity and long-form immersion.
- Themes
- economic history, central banking, financial crisis
- Pacing
- Steady
Nearest books
Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved.
America's BankRoger Lowenstein61% matchShares Money & Monetary Policy and Banks & Banking
Paris 1919Margaret MacMillan, Richard Holbrooke52% match
The DelugeAdam Tooze64% matchShares Economic History
Winners Take AllAnand Giridharadas52% match
American MidnightAdam Hochschild, Jonathan Todd Ross52% match
Start with three books, and this one can be the first.
Members get a new edition every morning: a route out from their books to essays, research and talks, with the reason for each.
Start with this bookAbout this book
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize “A magisterial work.” —New York Times Book Review “The rich and charming story of the end of the world.” —TIME “Highly readable.” —Financial Times “This absorbing study of the first collective of central bankers is provocative, not least because it is still relevant.” —The Economist It is commonly believed that the Great Depression that began in 1929 resulted from a confluence of events beyond any one person's or government's control.
Continue reading
In fact, as Liaquat Ahamed reveals, it was the decisions made by a small number of central bankers that were the primary cause of that economic meltdown, the effects of which set the stage for World War II and reverberated for decades. As we continue to grapple with economic turmoil, Lords of Finance is a potent reminder of the enormous impact that the decisions of central bankers can have, their fallibility, and the terrible human consequences that can result when they are wrong.
Money, Posing Serious
A readable account of finance’s human machinery, pitched between classroom clarity and long-form immersion.
Come here for
- central-bank power plays
- big-history economics with biography and business detail
Expect
- institutional, explanatory framing
- serious but readable economic history
Where it sits
| Economic History | 65% |
|---|---|
| Money & Monetary Policy | 47% |
| Banks & Banking | 39% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Business Ethics
- Corporate Histories
- 20th-Century America
- Authors
- Liaquat Ahamed
- Publisher
- Penguin Publishing Group
- Published
- December 29, 2009
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- economic history · central banking · financial crisis
- Reading lane
- Business Ethics