Recommendations based on All the Devils are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisisby Bethany McLean

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron

    by Bethany McLean
    The dramatic story of the Enron scandal, exposing the hidden corruption behind the company's meteoric rise and fall.

    There were dozens of books about Watergate, but only All the President's Men gave readers the full story, with all the drama and nuance and exclusive reporting. And thirty years later, if you're ... (Goodreads)

  2. When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management

    by Roger Lowenstein
    The story of the hedge fund that almost brought down the financial system in 1998, and the hubris and greed that led to its downfall.

    With a new Afterword addressing today’s financial crisis A BUSINESS WEEK BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR In this business classic—now with a new Afterword in which the author draws parallels to the recent ... (Goodreads)

  3. Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System from Crisis — and Themselves

    by Andrew Ross Sorkin
    An examination of the 2008 financial crisis, how it was caused, and how it was dealt with.

    The book provides an overview of the financial crisis of 2007–08 from the beginning of 2008 to the decision to create the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The book tells the story from the ... (Wikipedia)

  4. Den of Thieves

    by James B. Stewart
    Uncovering the inside story of the Wall Street scandals of the 1980s.

    A #1 bestseller from coast to coast,, Den of Thieves, tells the full story of the insider-trading scandal that nearly destroyed Wall Street, the men who pulled it off, and the chase that finally ... (Goodreads)

  5. Cosmos

    by Carl Sagan
    Voyage through the vastness of space, unlocking the mysteries of the universe.

    Cosmos has 13 heavily illustrated chapters, corresponding to the 13 episodes of the Cosmos television series. In the book, Sagan explores 15 billion years of cosmic evolution and the development of ... (Goodreads)

  6. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

    by Michael Lewis
    How an unconventional approach to baseball changed the competitive landscape.

    Billy Beane, general manager of MLB's Oakland A's and protagonist of Michael Lewis's Moneyball , had a problem: how to win in the Major Leagues with a budget that's smaller than that of nearly every ... (Goodreads)

  7. Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco

    by Bryan Burrough
    The story of the highly competitive bidding war for RJR Nabisco, one of the biggest corporate takeovers in history.

    A #1 New York Times bestseller and arguably the best business narrative ever written, Barbarians at the Gate is the classic account of the fall of RJR Nabisco. An enduring masterpiece of ... (Goodreads)

  8. Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991

    by Michael Azerrad
    History of the American indie rock scene, showcasing influential bands and their legacy.

    This is the never-before-told story of the musical revolution that happened right under the nose of the Reagan Eighties–when a small but sprawling network of bands, labels, fanzines, radio stations, ... (Goodreads)

  9. Debt: The First 5,000 Years

    by David Graeber
    A history of money and debt, exploring the roots of our current financial system.

    Before there was money, there was debt Every economics textbook says the same thing: Money was invented to replace onerous and complicated barter systems—to relieve ancient people from having to haul ... (Goodreads)

  10. In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives

    by Steven Levy
    An inside look at the history, culture, and technology behind Google, the world's most powerful search engine and tech giant.

    Written with full cooperation from top management, including cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, this is the inside story behind Google, the most successful and most admired technology company of ... (Goodreads)

  11. The Intelligent Investor

    by Benjamin Graham
    An in-depth guide to investing, providing strategies to become a successful investor.

    More than one million hardcovers sold Now available for the first time in paperback! The Classic Text Annotated to Update Graham's Timeless Wisdom for Today's Market Conditions The greatest ... (Goodreads)

  12. The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

    by Naomi Klein
    Examination of the exploitation of economic crises and shock tactics by governments and corporations.

    In her ground-breaking reporting from Iraq, Naomi Klein exposed how the trauma of invasion was being exploited to remake the country in the interest of foreign corporations. She called it "disaster ... (Goodreads)

  13. Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World

    by Liaquat Ahamed
    An exploration of the economic decisions of four central bankers that changed the course of history.

    The book discusses the personal histories of the four heads of the Central Banks of the United States, Great Britain, France, and Germany, and their efforts to steer the world economy from the period ... (Wikipedia)

  14. Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck—Why Some Thrive Despite Them All

    by James C. Collins
    Examines the strategies and principles used by high-performing companies in uncertain environments.

    The new question: Ten years after the worldwide bestseller "Good to Great," Jim Collins returns to ask: Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not? In "Great by ... (Goodreads)

  15. Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith

    by Jon Krakauer
    An exploration of the fundamentalist Mormon faith, its history, and the power of religious extremism.

    A Story of Violent Faith A multilayered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, savage violence, polygamy, and unyielding faith. This is vintage Krakauer, an utterly compelling work of ... (Goodreads)

  16. On War

    by Carl von Clausewitz
    A comprehensive analysis of the nature and principles of war, including its political and social aspects.

    Carl von Clausewitz's On War has been called, "not simply the greatest, but the only truly great book on war." It is an extraordinary attempt to construct an all-embracing theory of how war works. ... (Goodreads)

  17. Fascism: A Warning

    by Madeleine K. Albright
    A warning against the rise of fascism and authoritarianism in the modern world, drawing on historical examples and personal experiences.

    A personal and urgent examination of Fascism in the twentieth century and how its legacy shapes today’s world, written by one of America’s most admired public servants, the first woman to serve as ... (Goodreads)

  18. Profiles in Courage

    by John F. Kennedy
    Biographical accounts of U.S. senators who faced adversity for their beliefs.

    The Pulitzer Prize winning classic by President John F. Kennedy, with an introduction by Caroline Kennedy and a foreword by Robert F. Kennedy. Written in 1955 by the then junior senator from the ... (Goodreads)

  19. Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime

    by John Heilemann
    A behind-the-scenes look at the 2008 US Presidential Election and the people who ran it.

    “It’s one of the best books on politics of any kind I’ve read. For entertainment value, I put it up there with Catch 22 .” — The Financial Times “It transports you to a parallel universe in which ... (Goodreads)

  20. Lies & the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair & Balanced Look at the Right

    by Al Franken
    Satirical look at the right, exposing their lies and hypocrisies.

    Al Franken, one of our savviest satirists ( People ), has been studying the rhetoric of the Right. He has listened to their cries of slander, bias, and even treason. He has examined the Bush ... (Goodreads)

  21. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

    by Edward Gibbon
    An in-depth account of the fall of the Roman Empire, tracing its causes and effects.

    Length: 126 hrs and 31 mins The History of the Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire was written by English historian Edward Gibbon & originally published in six quarto volumes. Volume 1 was published ... (Goodreads)

  22. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

    by Michael Pollan
    Exploration of the modern food chain, examining the impact of food choices on our health and the environment.

    What should we have for dinner? The question has confronted us since man discovered fire, but according to Michael Pollan, the bestselling author of The Botany of Desire , how we answer it today, at ... (Goodreads)

  23. Just Kids

    by Patti Smith
    Chronicles of two young artists in New York City, finding friendship and inspiration in each other.

    In Just Kids , Patti Smith's first book of prose, the legendary American artist offers a never-before-seen glimpse of her remarkable relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the epochal ... (Goodreads)

  24. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

    by Bill Bryson
    A humorous account of a man's attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail, reflecting on the beauty and history of the American wilderness.

    The book starts with Bryson explaining his curiosity about the Appalachian Trail near his house. He and his old friend Stephen Katz start hiking the trail from Georgia in the South , and stumble in ... (Wikipedia)

  25. The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood

    by James Gleick
    A comprehensive history of the development of information technology, from ancient times to the digital age.

    James Gleick, the author of the best sellers Chaos and Genius , now brings us a work just as astonishing and masterly: a revelatory chronicle and meditation that shows how information has become the ... (Goodreads)

  26. A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam

    by Neil Sheehan
    A detailed account of the Vietnam War, and one man's role in it.

    This passionate, epic account of the Vietnam War centres on Lt Col John Paul Vann, whose story illuminates America's failures & disillusionment in SE Asia. A field adviser to the army when US ... (Goodreads)

  27. The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956

    by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
    An expose of the horrors of the Soviet gulag system, exposing the cruelty and injustice.

    Drawing on his own incarceration and exile, as well as on evidence from more than 200 fellow prisoners and Soviet archives, Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn reveals the entire apparatus of Soviet ... (Goodreads)

  28. Liar's Poker

    by Michael Lewis
    A Wall Street insider's look at the culture of high finance and the dynamics of the markets.

    The time was the 1980s. The place was Wall Street. The game was called Liar’s Poker. Michael Lewis was fresh out of Princeton and the London School of Economics when he landed a job at Salomon ... (Goodreads)

  29. A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age

    by William Manchester
    A vivid portrayal of the medieval world, its beliefs, and practices, and the emergence of the Renaissance.

    From tales of chivalrous knights to the barbarity of trial by ordeal, no era has been a greater source of awe, horror, and wonder than the Middle Ages. In handsomely crafted prose, and with the grace ... (Goodreads)

  30. My Life in France

    by Julia Child
    A memoir of Julia Child's life in Paris, cooking and exploring French cuisine.

    The bestselling story of Julia's years in France–and the basis for Julie & Julia , starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams--in her own words. Although she would later singlehandedly create a new approach ... (Goodreads)