Too Big to Fail
Inside the Battle to Save Wall Street
Published on 29. October 2009
Book
Paperback/Softback
640 pages
978-1-84614-238-3 (ISBN)
Description
Shortlisted for the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize 2010
Andrew Ross Sorkin delivers the first true behind-the-scenes, moment-by-moment , account of how the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression developed into a global tsunami. From inside the corner office at Lehman Brothers to secret meetings in South Korea, Russia and the corridors of Washington, Too Big to Fail is the definitive story of the most powerful men and women in finance and politics grappling with success and failure, ego, greed, and, ultimately, the fate of the world's economy.
"We've got to get some foam down on the runway!" a sleepless Timothy Geithner, the president of the Federal Reserve of New York would tell Henry M.Paulson, the Treasury Secretary about the catastrophic crash of the world's financial system would experience.
Through unprecendented access to the players involved, Too Big to Fail recreates all the drama and turmoil, revealing never-disclosed details and elucidating how decisions made on Wall Street over the past decade sowed the seeds of the debacle. This true story is not just a look at banks that were "too big to fail", it is a real-life thriller about a cast of bold-faced names who themselves thought they were "too big to fail".
Andrew Ross Sorkin delivers the first true behind-the-scenes, moment-by-moment , account of how the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression developed into a global tsunami. From inside the corner office at Lehman Brothers to secret meetings in South Korea, Russia and the corridors of Washington, Too Big to Fail is the definitive story of the most powerful men and women in finance and politics grappling with success and failure, ego, greed, and, ultimately, the fate of the world's economy.
"We've got to get some foam down on the runway!" a sleepless Timothy Geithner, the president of the Federal Reserve of New York would tell Henry M.Paulson, the Treasury Secretary about the catastrophic crash of the world's financial system would experience.
Through unprecendented access to the players involved, Too Big to Fail recreates all the drama and turmoil, revealing never-disclosed details and elucidating how decisions made on Wall Street over the past decade sowed the seeds of the debacle. This true story is not just a look at banks that were "too big to fail", it is a real-life thriller about a cast of bold-faced names who themselves thought they were "too big to fail".
Reviews / Votes
Andrew Ross Sorkin pens what may be the definitive history of the banking crisis * The Atlantic Monthly * Andrew Ross Sorkin has written a fascinating, scene-by-scene saga of the eyeless trying to march the clueless through Great Depression II * Tom Wolfe * Sorkin has succeeded in writing the book of the crisis, with amazing levels of detail and access * Reuters * Sorkin can write. His storytelling makes Liar's Poker look like a children's book * SNL Financial * Too good to put down . . . It is the story of the actors in the most extraordinary financial spectacle in 80 years, and it is told brilliantly . . . It is hard to imagine them being this riveting * Economist * As close to a definitive account as we are likely to get * Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times * The most readable and exciting report of the events surrounding the Lehman collapse that we have seen . . . impeccably sourced * Edmund Conway, Daily Telegraph * Surpassed its rivals with its depth, range of reporting and high quality analysis * Stefan Stern, FT * He has done a remarkable job in producing a lively account that will be hard for subsequent authors to beat * Gillian Tett, FT * The sense of being in the meeting rooms as hitherto all-conquering alpha male egos fight for their reputations, as their and our world judders, is palpable * Chris Blackhurst, Evening Standard * A superbly researched and sobering take on the events surrounding the meltdown on Wall Street * Sam Mendes * Compelling, novelistic and enormously thorough account * Alison Roberts, Evening Standard * A fine narrative drawn from interviews with the leading bankers and policymakers * Oliver Kamm, The Times * A riveting fly-on-the-wall account of the collapse of the Lehman Brothers and what comes afterwards * Books of the Year recommendation, Economist *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 153 mm
Thickness: 34 mm
Weight
724 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84614-238-3 (9781846142383)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Andrew Ross Sorkin is the award-winning chief mergers and acquisitions reporter for the New York Times, a columnist, and assistant editor of business and finance news. He has won a Gerald Loeb Award, the highest honor in business journalism, and a Society of American Business Editors and Writers Award. In 2007, the World Economic Forum names him a Young Global Leader.