1929 cover art

1929

The Inside Story of The Greatest Crash in Wall Street History

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

1929

By: Andrew Ross Sorkin
Narrated by: Andrew Ross Sorkin
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £12.06

Buy Now for £12.06

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

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 about money. 1929 is a tale of power, psychology, and the seductive illusion that “this time is different.” It’s about disregarded alarm bells, financiers who fell from grace, and skeptics who saw the crash coming—only to be dismissed until it was too late.

Hailed as a landmark book, Too Big to Fail reimagined how financial crises are told. Now, with 1929, Sorkin delivers an immersive, electrifying account of the most pivotal market collapse of all time—with lessons that remain as urgent as ever. More than just a history, 1929 is a crucial blueprint for understanding the cycles of speculation, the forces that drive financial upheaval, and the warning signs we ignore at our peril.

'One of the best narrative histories I've read' Wall Street Journal

'A new [Andrew Ross Sorkin] book is always at the top of my reading list' Bill Gates

'A real eye-opener...a work of true scholarship' Financial Times

© Andrew Ross Sorkin 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

 Americas Economic History Economics Investing & Trading Stocks United States Banking Thought-Provoking Wall Street Emotionally Gripping Socialism Taxation Capitalism
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c

Critic reviews

Sorkin's vivid and forensic account . . . is a real eye-opener . . . a work of true scholarship, the fruits of eight years of research by Sorkin drawing on an extensive array of materials, including personal correspondence and unpublished papers whose details have been woven into the story of the Great Crash for the first time. 1929 will have a distinct place within the Great Crash/Depression genre, just as did Too Big to Fail and for the same reasons—a people’s tragedy told through the lens of the leading players and their personalities, friends and families (Andy Haldane)
Totally fascinating, chilling... this is a fastidiously composed and gripping account of greed and ego versus accountability and responsibility colliding (Chris Evans)
Mr. Sorkin wisely tells this sprawling story in a focused way, reconstructing how crucial figures experienced the ructions almost hour by hour . . . Mr. Sorkin’s coverage of the crisis in 2008 was based on hundreds of interviews, but most of the people in this tale have been dead for decades. You would be forgiven for forgetting it. The combination of extensive research and a lively tone makes both the crash and the men involved feel more recent
In 1929 Andrew Ross Sorkin brings the drama of the crash to a high pitch. He has consulted weather reports, diaries, architectural records and every newspaper imaginable to create a vivid and historically accurate account of the boom, crash, and aftermath. Although Mr. Sorkin offers hints that the crash looms larger in our memory than it did in the moment, his focus is on portraying the lives of the people who lived through it. It is one of the best narrative histories I’ve read
Vivid, pacy, a gallery of finely drawn pen portraits... shows how delusion, myopia and greed led to financial disaster... [Sorkin] reconstructs a Wall Street that is at once a period piece and familiar setting (Pratinav Anil)
An absolutely riveting & illuminating account of the '29 market crash, one that clarifies many misinterpretations & has deep resonance today (David Grann, New York Times bestselling author)
Groundbreaking... Whereas Galbraith saw the crash through the lens of economics, Sorkin comes at it as a scoop-driven storytelling business journalist, of which he is one of the best. Having written the definitive fly-on-the-wall account of the financial crisis of 2008, Too Big to Fail, and co-created the hit hedge fund television melodrama Billions, Sorkin is again strong on character, drama and narrative, bringing events and long-dead personalities to life in all their complexity and colour (Matthew Bishop)
One of my books of 2025... a character-led study of the events leading up to the Great Crash (Lewis Goodhall)
All stars
Most relevant
Such a realistic record of the events really brought the whole thing to life. Amazing characters, clearly a huge amount of research

What a great read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The narration style suited the story being relayed , as did the accent. I like the date/diary styles and telling a big event through the stories of a handful of figures.

Old story in a new light

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
1929: The Inside Story of the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History is a gripping narrative history of the Wall Street Crash and the cascading economic collapse that followed. Rather than treating 1929 as a single catastrophic event, the book reconstructs the slow, combustible build-up - financial excess, fragile credit structures, misplaced confidence, and institutional complacency - that made the crash both devastating and, in hindsight, tragically foreseeable.

Sorkin focuses closely on the individuals at the heart of the drama: bankers, brokers, policymakers, industrialists, and financiers who shaped, and were shaped by, the boom and bust. Familiar figures such as Charles Mitchell, Richard Whitney, and the partners at the major New York banks are presented not as caricatured villains or heroes, but as complex actors operating within the intellectual, cultural, and institutional constraints of their time. The result is a balanced portrait of decision-making under uncertainty, hubris, and fear.

One of the book’s central arguments is that the crash was not simply the product of speculation or greed, but of structural weaknesses: excessive leverage, opaque financial instruments, poor coordination between institutions, and a profound misunderstanding of systemic risk. The Federal Reserve’s hesitancy, the limits of gold-standard thinking, and the absence of a lender-of-last-resort mentality all play crucial roles in the unfolding disaster. Sorkin also draws implicit, never heavy-handed, parallels with modern financial crises, inviting the reader to reflect on how little human behaviour around markets has truly changed.

The book’s greatest strength is its storytelling. In many places it reads almost like a thriller, with mounting tension as markets wobble, rumours spread, and confidence evaporates. Yet it never loses sight of the broader historical context: the cultural optimism of the 1920s, the rise of mass participation in markets, and the fragile foundations of American capitalism in the interwar period. This combination of pace and depth makes complex financial dynamics feel vivid and intelligible.

As an audiobook, it works particularly well. The narrative style suits listening, and the clarity with which events are sequenced helps the listener keep track of both the macro forces and the personal dramas.

Overall, this is an excellent account of one of the defining economic events of the modern world. Rigorous without being dry, dramatic without being sensational. It will appeal not only to readers interested in financial history, but to anyone curious about how systems fail, how elites respond under pressure, and why crises so often feel obvious only after the fact.

When Confidence Cracked: A Masterful Account of 19

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It is enlightening to hear about the lives of the main characters who contributed to the exuberance and then crash of 1929. Hopefully, our financial overlords have learned from their mistakes in 1929 to prevent this ever happening again. Though, I doubt it!

A forensic analysis of the most important financial event, so far.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Good book but quite long and quite monotone. Worth a listen mostly at least ok

Glass Steagle

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews