The Great Game: The Emergence of Wall Street as a World Power: 1653-2000 [Hardcover]

John Steele Gordon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 16, 1999

For more than two hundred years, fortunes have been made -- and lost -- on Wall Street by men and women playing the great game of capitalism. Many have repeated the mistakes of their forebears, and some have enjoyed similar triumphs. In this gripping and informative book, John Steele Gordon tells history lovers, armchair investors, financiers, and day traders alike everything they need to know about Wall Street's wild ride to power.

Wall Street began as the northern line of defense for a wilderness trading post, at a time when money was limited to gold, silver, and Indian wampum. Today, Wall Street is a metaphor for the global financial market, and money exists mostly on computer screens. More than three million Americans are now employed by the securities industry, and Wall Street wields the sort of power once reserved to nation states. How did an unimpressive little byway become so formidable? In this richly textured narrative history, John Steele Gordon brings to life the remarkable cast of bankers and brokers, visionaries and crooks who made it happen.

Nature gave New York one of the world's great harbors, and the Dutch founders gave the city its enduring love of making money. In pursuit of that love, New Yorkers began meeting under the trees and lampposts of Wall Street to buy and sell securities. As the country expanded westward, canal and railroad companies came to Wall Street looking for capital. Later still, manufacturers came as well, and, by the beginning of the twentieth century, the United States had the mightiest national economy in the world. No small part of that development was due to Wall Street, which, time and again, has demonstrated how Adam Smith'sinvisible hand turns the pursuit of economic self-interest into common wealth.

Gordon tells the fascinating stories of the key players of the Great Game, including Jacob Little, the first great Wall Street plunger; Commodore Vanderbilt, the Street's greatest tactician; Hetty Green, the "richest woman in the world," who was terrified of being poor; J. P. Morgan, the country's most important banker, who twice saved it from economic disaster when the government couldn't; Richard Whitney, the president of the New York Stock Exchange, who was a thief; and Charles E. Merrill, who brought Wall Street to Main Street and transformed both in the process. From Alexander Hamilton to Michael Milken, the history of Wall Street is a history of risk, courage, avarice, patriotism, power, genius, and even, occasionally, remarkable stupidity.

Wall Street has finally found a biographer worthy of her extraordinary story in acclaimed business historian John Steele Gordon. As more and more Americans invest their money in the stock market, "The Great Game" is a lively and absorbing account of how Wall Street became a crucial part of all our lives.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The wall in question was torn down 300 years ago. In the intervening years, the narrow crosstown street in downtown Manhattan where the wall erected by Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant once stood has become the symbol of the New York financial market, and, writes Gordon, "the beating heart of world capitalism." In the prologue to this eloquent and engaging history, Gordon (Hamilton's Blessing) asserts that Wall Street's dominant position in the increasingly global economy makes it as worthy of the label "great power" as any sovereign state. The focus of his text, however, is to explain the twists and turns of fate that allowed New York to grow into the world's preeminent financial power, surpassing the once equally boisterous Philadelphia market in the U.S., and, at the turn of the last century, London in the global marketplace. Gordon weaves the history of the Street into a brisk and captivating narrative peopled with the fascinating characters who have played a part in its history. From Frederick Philipse, who successfully cornered the wampum market in 1666, to William C. Durant, the founder of General Motors, who lost $90 million in seven months in 1920, Gordon brings to life the stories of both famous and forgotten players in the ongoing game of speculation. He offers cogent explanations of how fluctuating politics and developing technology have changed the stakes, shaped the rules and guided the market through boom times and bad. Although bullish on the market's future, Gordon cautions that the Street should keep one eye on the past and learn from its own history. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Here's a highly entertaining look at the history of Wall Street and its transition from a backwater trading post to the core of global financial power. The book includes marvelous anecdotes about the activities and actions of a broad range of characters, from Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson to J.P. Morgan and Ferdinand Pecora. Gordon (The Scarlet Woman of Wall Street) examines the historic backdrop of the Babson Break, the Buttonwood Agreement, various market crashes and panics, the Great Depression, the Credit Mobilier scandal, and the gnomes of Zurich. He helps the reader to make sense of the financial institutions, market fluctuations, and technological developments that have helped define Wall Street. The book's greatest strength is its depiction of the people and events that helped shape the financial world between 1653 and 1980 and its greatest weakness the sparse coverage since then. A television special based on the book is scheduled to air on CNBC in December 1999. Recommended for both academic and public libraries.ANorman B. Hutcherson, Kern Cty. Lib., Bakersfield, CA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; First Edition edition (November 16, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684832879
• ISBN-13: 978-0684832876
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #270,457 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every Page Enhances Your Knowledge, November 30, 1999

By 

taking a rest - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Great Game: The Emergence of Wall Street as a World Power: 1653-2000 (Hardcover)

Mr. Gorden has accomplished what only great communicators can; he delivers a tremendous amount of easily understood information about his subject, and does not require 1000 pages to do so. In this instance the subject is not an easy one to grasp if it is new to you, or even if it's not so new. If you have ever wanted to have an understanding of much of what you hear about Wall Street, including historical fact, definitions of market language, where the word broker originated, or where and why the wall that was actually erected was placed that gave Wall Street it's name, this is the book. Mr. Gorden explains why geography destined New York City to outgrow any other American Port, and the reasons may surprise you. What was the first "Corner" that was accomplished in the market, what is a "Corner", it's all here. As are some of the famous and infamous men and some fascinating women that helped create the colorful history of, and that brought us the amazing place Wall Street is today. And Mr. Gordon's explanation as to the definition of what constitutes a World Power might surprise you, as well as who those powers are. Very well written, full of useful information, all in all, a great read.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't let the title throw you - it's an exciting read, February 18, 2000

By 

Lee Gruenfeld "www-leegruenfeld-com" (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Great Game: The Emergence of Wall Street as a World Power: 1653-2000 (Hardcover)

The Great Game is a gem of a book that will appeal to a wide spectrum of people regardless of their personal interest in matters financial. Full of colorful characters and incredible schemes, the central thesis of this terrifically readable treatise is the notion that, in a very real sense, Wall Street sits at the very center of world power, almost as a sovereign entity. The scope of its influence is breathtaking, and Gordon paints a meticulously researched and exciting picture of how it came to be that way. There are some surprises, too. The author easily dispenses with the traditional view that the crash of 1929 was the proximate cause of the Great Depression, and demonstrates how advances in communication technology can often be traced back to the need for investors to have better access to information. An eminently readable must.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a great investment....., July 18, 2000

By 

J. Liesenfelt (Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Great Game: The Emergence of Wall Street as a World Power: 1653-2000 (Hardcover)

Even though I have another book on the history of Wall Street in my reading stack, I picked up a copy of the book just because John Steele Gordon wrote it. Many of you will recognize his voice on NPR and in American Heritage. In fact, Mr. Gordon's article is the first section I read when I receive the newest copy of American Heritage. Mr. Gordon always spins a surprising story each month and this book is no different.

Mr. Gordon covers 350 years of history in just 300 pages, however, don't let the title fool you, it really only covers Wall Street until about 1995, not 2000 (a minor quibble). The book contains many interesting stories along the way such as how Chase Manhattan started off as a water company and why Merrill Lynch was named after two brokers, not one (I didn't realize that).

As always no book on the history of Wall Street would be complete without the Erie Railroad, the "Scarlet Women of Wall Street." Mr. Gordon relives the Erie tale with relish! I could almost see Daniel Drew laughing as he printed additional shares of Erie stock as fast as Commodore Vanderbilt could buy them. The rest of the players of Wall Street take their turn in the book, including J.P. Morgan, Fisk and Gould, Joe Kennedy, Alexander Hamilton, and a few women such as Hetty Green also appear.

Gordon takes time to explain many concepts about how the stock market came to be today including stories on the first corner in Wall Street history to the most recent, the Hunt's brothers attempt to corner the silver market in 1980. Mr. Gordon also explains that each time a player uses the market to their advantage, the invisible hand of Adam Smith pushes the market to correct the "wrongs."

Though it is not one of Mr. Gordon's main points in the book, he does point out throughout the book that the "Robber Barons" of old had many friends/allies in government that turned a blind eye to their schemes.

This book is filled with the history of people of Wall Street, not numbers! Pick it up, you'll find that Mr. Gordon's cornered the market on the history of Wall Street!