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

by John Steele Gordon

In The Great Game, acclaimed business historian John Steele Gordon chronicles the rise of Wall Street from its humble beginnings as an American trading post to its domination of the world economy, bringing to life the remarkable cast of bankers and brokers, visionaries and crooks who made it happen. From Alexander Hamilton to Michael Milken, the history of Wall Street is a history of risk, courage, avarice, patriotism, power, genius, and, occasionally, remarkable stupidity. In Gordon, Wall Street has finally found a biographer worthy of its extraordinary story.

Genres: History, Finance, Economics, Business, Nonfiction, Historical, Society

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

John Steele Gordon is an American writer who specializes in the history of business and finance. Born and raised in New York City, he graduated from Vanderbilt University.

Reviews

[Mike Negley]

John Steele Gordon’s “The Great Game” is a well researched history of the U.S. stock market and shares many stories about the market’s development, the notable people involved and how the economy affected the market and vice-a-versa.

[Iyner629]

attractive

[Adeline Shen]

Definitely worth a re-read and lots of research. great stories and abundant knowledge

[Doris Raines]

I LIKE THIS BOOK ITS ALL ABOUT THE GAME. CHARGE IT IT TO THE GAME👁

[Qingjian Zhao]

It is a good introduction book for me who knows nothing about how Wall Street grew towards to a World Power

[Yujia Tian]

Actually I don't realize that this is a history book before I open it.

[Yi]

实在有点看不进。。暂且弃了

[Grace Appler]

Colorful and entertaining overview of the evolution of Wall Street pre-1980s. Along with stories, jokes, personalities and events, provided brief descriptions of why they happened.

[Hao Xu]

A brief introduction to wall street and all its unknown stories, very enjoyable reading.

[Jeff G]

A fascinating read of the history of Wall Street and finance. The book was at its best when telling stories of people & events; sometimes numbers & trends (while necessary) gets in the way

[Brian]

Helpful and comparatively well-written history of the Wall Street, from the days when it was Da Waalstraat on which slaves were told to before the 2008 crisis. I can't say I understood all the economic terms or what exactly was going on, but he's really giving an effort to careful explanation. He's also a neocon who thinks the market can regulate itself, but that sometimes some regulation is necessary, and at the very least if you're not an anarchist, you have to admit that justice of exchange is something the government does need to look into.

[Quang]

Should have known not to expect "great" writing from Wall St. The stories are many and entertaining, but easy to forget. I liked the first chapter the best - gave historical perspective by giving credit to the Dutch for founding NYC and breathing that seafaring cosmopolitanism into it. Even more reason to love New York.

[Christian]

John Steele Gordon is one of my favorite business history authors. I discovered him when I read "The Great Game: The Emergence of Wall Street" (almost by accident). I highly, highly recommend his books for anyone who loves business, the economy and finance through time.

http://www.johnsteelegordon.com/

[Jonathan]

Decent review of the history of Wall Street, up to 2000 that is. The strongest part of the book was in describing the early origins of Wall Street.

[Zhong]

Epic book for Wall street history. some financial book author is conspiracy theorist, Gordon keep himself neutral. The Great Game is the best alternative to know about Wall Street.

[Gerry]

An amazing story of Wall Street and the history to 2000 AD. The author does a great job tying events and history together.

[时间的玫瑰]

金钱永不眠

[Rajiv Agarwal]

Great and very readable account of emergence of Wall Street as a center of capitalism.

[Soppy]

历史故事，偏流水账。不过揭示了很多不为人所知的恩怨。我读的版本不好，感觉内容有删节，原文可能更加真实。

[Moming]

nice book on the history of financial markets

[Sculptinghair]

Wonderful tail of the history of Wall Street!

[Jack Knych]

For class. aight