This is a very readable and enjoyable financial history for a layman like me. Like most of the members of the general public, generally I have no interest in financial history, considering it complicated, mundane, boring and dry. However, the recently financial meltdown piqued my interest on this topic.

This book described the development of modern finance and banking system, staring from Renaissance Italy, the Medici family, the rising of the Rothschild family after the Waterloo, all the way down to the current crisis triggered by the sub-prime mortgage meltdown. It is especially interesting to read the accounts of S&L crisis of 1980s and 1990s, appreciating its relevance to the current crisis.

It is especially interesting to notice the similarities of all the bubbles in history, from the famous Dutch Tulip Mania, British South Sea bubble, French Mississippi Bubble, Great Depression, S&L crisis, and finally, the current financial meltdown. It seems bubbles can never be prevented. Interestingly, a recently Atlantic Monthly article penned by the (in)famous Henry Blodget, "Why Wall Street Always Blows It", contemplated on this very topic and concluded that bubbles are unpreventable.

Enjoyed this book tremendously.