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FH

Financial History

General History

Holds histories of money, banking, bubbles, crashes, hyperinflations and Wall Street.

53 books on Financial History, 12 of them tier 1, recommended by 27 people including Mohnish Pabrai and Christopher Bloomstran.

53 books · 40 experts

Start here

  1. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of CrowdsCharles Mackay, 1841
  2. The Great Crash 1929John Kenneth Galbraith, 1955
  3. A History of Interest RatesSidney Homer, Richard Sylla, 1963
  4. When Money DiesAdam Fergusson, 1975
  5. The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern FinanceRon Chernow, 1990

The best books on Financial History 53

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the MadnExtraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
T1 Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
Charles Mackay · 1841
The original catalogue of speculative folly; still cited on every bubble.
Open Library
“Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay (only the first two chapters the title is worth the price of admission!)”Peter Cundill
Recommended byBarton BiggsBernard BaruchPeter CundillPrem WatsaLi Lu
The Great Crash 1929The Great Crash 1929
T1 The Great Crash 1929
John Kenneth Galbraith · 1955
Still the standard account of speculative mania and its aftermath.
Open Library
Recommended byMohnish Pabrai
A History of Interest RatesA History of Interest Rates
T1 A History of Interest Rates
Sidney Homer, Richard Sylla · 1963
Four thousand years of rates; the reference work.
Open Library
Recommended byMohnish Pabrai
When Money DiesWhen Money Dies
T1 When Money Dies
Adam Fergusson · 1975
The canonical narrative account of the 1923 inflation and what it did to savers and creditors.
Open Library
Recommended byBalaji S. Srinivasan
The House of Morgan: An American Banking DynThe House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance
T1 The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance
Ron Chernow · 1990
On the predecessor houses; National Book Award winner.
Open Library
Recommended byMohnish PabraiPaul Graham
Golden FettersGolden Fetters
T1 Golden Fetters
Barry Eichengreen · 1992
The scholarly case that the gold standard transmitted the Depression.
Open Library
The Warburgs: The Twentieth-Century Odyssey The Warburgs: The Twentieth-Century Odyssey of a Remarkable Jewish Family
T1 The Warburgs: The Twentieth-Century Odyssey of a Remarkable Jewish Family
Ron Chernow · 1993
Open Library
Recommended byMohnish Pabrai
The Power of Gold: The History of an ObsessiThe Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession
T1 The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession
Peter L. Bernstein · 2000
Open Library unreachable during build; every openlibrary.org query failed with connection errors
Open Library
Lords of FinanceLords of Finance
T1 Lords of Finance
Liaquat Ahamed · 2009
The Creditanstalt collapse and its transmission through the 1931 European banking crisis.
Open Library
“I'm going to use "classic" again but rightfully so.”Christopher Bloomstran
Recommended byChristopher BloomstranMohnish Pabrai
Digital GoldDigital Gold
T1 Digital Gold
Nathaniel Popper · 2015
The standard origin history of bitcoin and its early holders.
Open Library
Hall of MirrorsHall of Mirrors
T1 Hall of Mirrors
Barry Eichengreen · 2015
The Depression and the euro crisis compared.
Open Library
The Power Law: Venture Capital and the MakinThe Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future
T1 The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future
Sebastian Mallaby · 2022
Open Library unreachable during build; title confirmed on his CFR expert page
Open Library
“He recommends Mallaby's history of venture capital and its outlier-driven returns.”Josh Wolfe
Recommended byAndrew WilkinsonAnthony PomplianoJosh WolfePatrick CollisonPaul GrahamVinod Khosla
Wall Street Under OathWall Street Under Oath
T2 Wall Street Under Oath
Ferdinand Pecora · 1939
The investigator's own account of the hearings that produced the SEC
Open Library
“It's a passage from one of my favorite books, "Wall Street Under Oath.”Howard Marks
Recommended byHoward Marks
The South Sea BubbleThe South Sea Bubble
T2 The South Sea Bubble
John Carswell · 1960
The standard account of 1720.
Open Library
Once in GolcondaOnce in Golconda
T2 Once in Golconda
John Brooks · 1969
Wall Street from 1920 to 1938, told through its people.
Open Library
Recommended byMohnish PabraiBrendan Moynihan
The Go-Go YearsThe Go-Go Years
T2 The Go-Go Years
John Brooks · 1973
The 1960s conglomerate mania and its unwinding.
Open Library
“Both books are outstanding histories of Rockefeller and Standard Oil and then of the booming 1960s.”Christopher Bloomstran
Recommended byChristopher BloomstranMohnish Pabrai
The German Inflation, 1914-1923The German Inflation, 1914-1923
T2 The German Inflation, 1914-1923
Carl-Ludwig Holtfrerich · 1986
The revisionist case that the inflation had real benefits before it broke.
Open Library
Hyperinflation and Stabilization in Weimar GHyperinflation and Stabilization in Weimar Germany
T2 Hyperinflation and Stabilization in Weimar Germany
Steven B. Webb · 1989
How expectations and fiscal credibility ended the inflation almost overnight.
Open Library
The Great Disorder: Politics, Economics, andThe Great Disorder: Politics, Economics, and Society in the German Inflation, 1914-1924
T2 The Great Disorder: Politics, Economics, and Society in the German Inflation, 1914-1924
Gerald D. Feldman · 1993
The scholarly standard; corrects Fergusson on who gained and who lost.
Open Library
Nazi GoldNazi Gold
T2 Nazi Gold
Tom Bower · 1997
The dormant-accounts scandal and the first serious breach of Swiss secrecy.
Open Library
Rainbow's End: The Crash of 1929Rainbow's End: The Crash of 1929
T2 Rainbow's End: The Crash of 1929
Maury Klein · 2001
The best single narrative of 1929 itself.
Open Library
Medici MoneyMedici Money
T2 Medici Money
Tim Parks · 2005
Renaissance banking, branch networks and the origins of modern finance.
Open Library
The Panic of 1907The Panic of 1907
T2 The Panic of 1907
Robert F. Bruner, Sean D. Carr · 2007
Morgan acting as lender of last resort before there was a Fed.
Open Library
Recommended byMohnish PabraiRational Capital Investment Fund
TulipmaniaTulipmania
T2 Tulipmania
Anne Goldgar · 2007
The archival demolition of most of what people believe about the tulip bubble.
Open Library
When Washington Shut Down Wall StreetWhen Washington Shut Down Wall Street
T2 When Washington Shut Down Wall Street
William L. Silber · 2007
The 1914 closure of the exchange, and how the dollar took over.
Open Library
The Ascent of MoneyThe Ascent of Money
T2 The Ascent of Money
Niall Ferguson · 2008
Niall Ferguson's history of financial innovation — from Medici banking to mortgage-backed securities. Adds a dimension the other books underweight: capital markets, insurance, and credit are not peripheral to economic development but central to it. Readable but should be checked against critics of Ferguson's selective history.
Open Library
Recommended byMohnish PabraiMax LevchinRaoul PalRyan PetersonThe Barefoot Investor
The Great Depression: A DiaryThe Great Depression: A Diary
T2 The Great Depression: A Diary
Benjamin Roth · 2009
A small-town lawyer writing it down as it happened, 1931 onward.
Open Library
Recommended byMohnish PabraiMorgan HouselThe Barefoot Investor
The Battle of Bretton WoodsThe Battle of Bretton Woods
T2 The Battle of Bretton Woods
Benn Steil · 2013
Keynes, White and the design of the postwar currency order.
Open Library
Lending to the Borrower from HellLending to the Borrower from Hell
T2 Lending to the Borrower from Hell
Mauricio Drelichman, Hans-Joachim Voth · 2014
Philip II's serial defaults, and why bankers kept lending anyway.
Open Library
The World's First Stock ExchangeThe World's First Stock Exchange
T2 The World's First Stock Exchange
Lodewijk Petram · 2014
How VOC shares actually traded: brokers, forwards, options, settlement.
Open Library
The Panama PapersThe Panama Papers
T2 The Panama Papers
Bastian Obermayer, Frederik Obermaier · 2016
Insider: the reporters who received and worked the Mossack Fonseca leak.
Open Library
America's Great DepressionAmerica's Great Depression
T3 America's Great Depression
Murray N. Rothbard · 1963
The Austrian account of 1929 and the policy response that followed
Open Library
“It's a timeless and timely classic.”Christopher Bloomstran
Recommended byChristopher BloomstranMohnish Pabrai
The Land BoomersThe Land Boomers
T3 The Land Boomers
Michael Cannon · 1966
The Melbourne property mania and bank collapses of the 1890s.
Open Library
The Credit-Anstalt Crisis of 1931The Credit-Anstalt Crisis of 1931
T3 The Credit-Anstalt Crisis of 1931
Aurel Schubert · 1991
The definitive study of the bank failure that broke Central European finance.
Open Library
The City of LondonThe City of London
T3 The City of London
David Kynaston · 1994
The four-volume history of the world's oldest continuous financial centre.
Open Library
Hitler's Silent PartnersHitler's Silent Partners
T3 Hitler's Silent Partners
Isabel Vincent · 1997
Companion investigation into Swiss banks and looted wartime assets.
Open Library
MillionaireMillionaire
T3 Millionaire
Janet Gleeson · 2000
John Law, the Mississippi bubble and the invention of paper money in France.
Open Library
Meltdown IcelandMeltdown Iceland
T3 Meltdown Iceland
Roger Boyes · 2009
Contemporaneous reporting on the collapse and the Icesave dispute.
Open Library
Gold: The Race for the World's Most SeductivGold: The Race for the World's Most Seductive Metal
T3 Gold: The Race for the World's Most Seductive Metal
Matthew Hart · 2013
Open Library
The Downfall of Money
T3 The Downfall of Money
Frederick Taylor · 2013
Modern retelling with more on the stabilisation and the Rentenmark.
Open Library
The Physics of Wall Street: A Brief History The Physics of Wall Street: A Brief History of Predicting the Unpredictable
T3 The Physics of Wall Street: A Brief History of Predicting the Unpredictable
James Owen Weatherall · 2013
How physicists and mathematicians came to run money; useful context for Simons.
Open Library
Recommended byEric Weinstein
Bubble in the SunBubble in the Sun
T3 Bubble in the Sun
Christopher Knowlton · 2020
The 1920s Florida land boom and its collapse.
Open Library
“Housel highlighted it on his blog under "same as it ever was," on the 1920s Florida land bubble's modern parallels.”Morgan Housel
Recommended byMorgan Housel
The Crash and Its Aftermath: A History of SeThe Crash and Its Aftermath: A History of Securities Markets in the United States, 1929-1933
T4 The Crash and Its Aftermath: A History of Securities Markets in the United States, 1929-1933
Barrie Wigmore · 1985
Open Library
Recommended byMohnish Pabrai
Money of the Mind: Borrowing and Lending in Money of the Mind: Borrowing and Lending in America from the Civil War to Michael Milken
T4 Money of the Mind: Borrowing and Lending in America from the Civil War to Michael Milken
James Grant · 1992
Open Library unreachable during build; title listed on grantspub.com books page
Open Library
Recommended byMohnish Pabrai
The History of MoneyThe History of Money
T4 The History of Money
Jack Weatherford · 1998
Open Library
Recommended byAlfred LinPatrick O'Shaughnessy
Markets Measure: An Illustrated History of AMarkets Measure: An Illustrated History of America Told Through the Dow Jones Industrial Average
T4 Markets Measure: An Illustrated History of America Told Through the Dow Jones Industrial Average
John A. Prestbo · 1999
Open Library
Recommended byMohnish Pabrai
The Origins of Value: The Financial InnovatiThe Origins of Value: The Financial Innovations that Created Modern Capital Markets
T4 The Origins of Value: The Financial Innovations that Created Modern Capital Markets
William Goetz · 2005
Open Library
Recommended byMohnish Pabrai
What Goes Up: The Uncensored History of ModeWhat Goes Up: The Uncensored History of Modern Wall Street as Told by the Bankers, Brokers, CEOs, and the Scoundrels Who Made It Happen
T4 What Goes Up: The Uncensored History of Modern Wall Street as Told by the Bankers, Brokers, CEOs, and the Scoundrels Who Made It Happen
Eric J. Weiner · 2005
Open Library
Recommended byMohnish Pabrai
Double Entry: How the Merchants of Venice CrDouble Entry: How the Merchants of Venice Created Modern Finance
T4 Double Entry: How the Merchants of Venice Created Modern Finance
Jane Gleeson-White · 2011
Open Library
Recommended byMohnish Pabrai
America's Bank: The Epic Struggle to Create America's Bank: The Epic Struggle to Create the Federal Reserve
T4 America's Bank: The Epic Struggle to Create the Federal Reserve
Roger Lowenstein · 2015
How the Federal Reserve was argued into existence, 1907-1913.
Open Library
“Listed among Klarman's favorite financial-history reads.”Seth Klarman
Recommended bySeth Klarman
The Delusions of CrowdsThe Delusions of Crowds
T4 The Delusions of Crowds
William J. Bernstein · 2021
Open Library
Ways and Means: Lincoln and His Cabinet and Ways and Means: Lincoln and His Cabinet and the Financing of the Civil War
T4 Ways and Means: Lincoln and His Cabinet and the Financing of the Civil War
Roger Lowenstein · 2022
Open Library
19291929
T4 1929
Andrew Ross Sorkin · 2025
Open Library
Recommended byBill GatesHoward Marks

Experts 40

The people who wrote this page's books, and the people who recommend them.

Authors 13

Barry Eichengreenwrote 2 books here
RL
Roger Lowensteinwrote 2 books hereRon Chernowwrote 2 books here
JB
John Brookswrote 2 books here
JG
James Grantwrote 1 book hereJohn Kenneth Galbraithwrote 1 book here
PL
Peter L. Bernsteinwrote 1 book here
SM
Sebastian Mallabywrote 1 book here
SH
Sidney Homerwrote 1 book hereAndrew Ross Sorkinwrote 1 book hereNiall Fergusonwrote 1 book here
WJ
William J. Bernsteinwrote 1 book here
Show all 13
David Kynastonwrote 1 book here

Recommenders 27

MP
Mohnish Pabrairecommends 17 books here
CB
Christopher Bloomstranrecommends 3 books hereHoward Marksrecommends 2 books herePaul Grahamrecommends 2 books here
MH
Morgan Houselrecommends 2 books here
BI
The Barefoot Investorrecommends 2 books here
BB
Barton Biggsrecommends 1 book here
LL
Li Lurecommends 1 book herePrem Watsarecommends 1 book hereSeth Klarmanrecommends 1 book hereAlfred Linrecommends 1 book here
AW
Andrew Wilkinsonrecommends 1 book here
Show all 27
AP
Anthony Pomplianorecommends 1 book here
BS
Balaji S. Srinivasanrecommends 1 book hereBernard Baruchrecommends 1 book hereBill Gatesrecommends 1 book here
BM
Brendan Moynihanrecommends 1 book hereEric Weinsteinrecommends 1 book here
JW
Josh Wolferecommends 1 book hereMax Levchinrecommends 1 book herePatrick Collisonrecommends 1 book here
PO
Patrick O'Shaughnessyrecommends 1 book here
PC
Peter Cundillrecommends 1 book here
RP
Raoul Palrecommends 1 book here
RC
Rational Capital Investment Fundrecommends 1 book here
RP
Ryan Petersonrecommends 1 book hereVinod Khoslarecommends 1 book here
See all 40 in the Experts tab →

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