From the bestselling author of Too Big to Fail the definitive history of the 2008 banking crisis comes a spellbinding narrative of the most infamous stock market crash in history With the depth of a classic history and the drama of a thriller 1929 unravels the greed blind optimism and folly that led to an era defining collapse one with ripple effects that still shape our society today In 1929 the world watched in shock as the unstoppable Wall Street bull market went into a freefall wiping out fortunes and igniting a depression that would reshape a generation But behind the flashing ticker tapes and panicked traders another drama unfolded one of visionaries and fraudsters titans and dreamers euphoria and ruin With unparalleled access to historical records and newly uncovered documents New York Times bestselling author Andrew Ross Sorkin takes readers inside the chaos of the crash behind the scenes of a raging battle between Wall Street and Washington and the larger than life characters whose ambition and naivety in an endless boom led to wreckage The dizzying highs and brutal lows of this era eerily mirror today s world where markets soar political tensions mount and the fight over financial influence plays out once again This is not just a story a