Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World (Pulitzer Prize Winner) (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780143116806)

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize

"Erudite, entertaining macroeconomic history of the lead-up to the Great Depression as seen through the careers of the West's principal bankers . . . Spellbinding, insightful and, perhaps most important, timely." --Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"There is terrific prescience to be found in [Lords of Finance's] portrait of times past . . . [A] writer of great verve and erudition, [Ahamed] easily connects the dots between the economic crises that rocked the world during the years his book covers and the fiscal emergencies that beset us today." --The New York Times

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. 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.

Author: Liaquat Ahamed
ISBN-10: 0143116800
ISBN-13: 9780143116806
Publisher: Penguin Books
Language: English
Published: 12/29/2009
Pages: 576
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.40w x 1.30d

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 12/27/2009 pg. 20