Customer Reviews

The Day the Bubble Burst: A Social History of the Wall Street Crash of 1929

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the waning months of the year 1929, the New York Stock Exchange was going strong. Millions of small and large investors poured their life savings into the pool of speculative issues, hoping for a big return on their gamble. On Black Tuesday, October 29th, the dream came to a crashing halt. This is the heart wrenching tale of that fateful day: the giddy years that preceded it, and the miserable decade that followed in it's wake. Sterling drama, with many poignant stories of the principal movers and shakers of Wall Street...before the Bubble burst.

Even though out of print, this is simply the best book on the subject. It is wonderfully written. A movie script could not be more gripping. The authors have done a terrific job in juxtaposing the stories of the ultra rich speculators ( the portrayal of the powerful Morgan bank and its partners alone is worth the price of the book) against those of the ordinary people caught up in the frenzy. The book sweeps you along from Wall Street to Main Street to foreign lands. You won't put it down. The research is top notch with a rich bibliography. Buy it !!

The people described come across as being very real and the great research made to produce this book is apparent. The greed of some and the stupidity of others might remind you of the events of 2008 etc. You will understand why some of the regulations enacted from the crash of 1929 were so needed and why they should not have been abandoned by our modern politicians. A great history book describing events that didn't need to be repeated.

This is a look at the individuals who were in charge of Wall Street when the market crashed in 1929. It begins a year ealrier on New Years Day 1928 and proceeds to that fateful day that changed our country. It was easy to read and I enjoyed it. If you are looking for something that is more involved in economics, this is not the book. It is the story of the people involved and responsible for the 1929 crash.

As a native Michigander, I was impressed with the many accounts of the role that automobile figures played in this book. The tale of the bank swindle in Flint, Michigan is, alone, worthy of a movie. Plus, Joseph Kennedy is depicted in thorough fashion, which debunks his image as a whiskey bootlegger during Prohibition. (He never sold a drop when it was illegal, but rather stored booze with the sense that Prohibition would be lifted.) Easy to read account of what happened before and after the Crash of '29, rather than a thick academic work.