Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World

Read this and find out who really rules the world, if anybody. Covers 1913 to 1945. Four men (two replaced by death) make most of the decisions that shape the world. Not always well organized, but educational.

An excellent book. I recommend it to anyone interested in learning about the powerful connections between international finance and international politics. A must read for those curious about the parallels between current global financial system developments and those of the late 1920s and the years immediately preceding the second world war.

The financial machinations and actions described can be extrapolated to the present financial siuation domestically and internationally. When wil the present lords of finance learn. Unfortunately it is the same thing basically all over again.

This book is fascinating and really well written. The fact that it covers several decades, and the interrelated finances of four nations, had me concerned that the author was biting off a bit more than he could chew. But I ended up being really impressed.

It may or may not be relevant for today's financial environment, but that doesn't really matter, because it's such a good read. The characters are great, and I feel that I have a much better context for understanding the first half of the 20th century.

Highly recommended!

"The Lords of Finance" Covers the monetary and fiscal history of the period from the end of WWI through the thirties with the emphasis on roughly 1920 - 1933. It is extremely lucidly written for what is frequently an opaque subject. It elucidates the misjudgements that lead to the Great Depression, and makes completely understandable the rise of Hitler in Germany. Further, it makes one especially anxious about our current precarious economic situation. It should be required reading for all those elected and appointed officials responsible for setting present economic policy in the United States.

If you're interested in how our recent economic crash-&-burn came into being, you need to start with World War I, the gold standard, and the creation of central banks in Europe and America. Liaquat writes a compelling and highly readable book about this otherwise dense and generally misunderstood history of finance in the modern world. As someone who generally prefers novels to textbooks, I give this a thumbs-up for being as entertaining as it is informative.

The period between WWI and WWII in USA and Europe provides vivid vignettes to illuminate basic concepts of macro-finance, e.g. currency, debt, inflation, trade balances. The writing is captivating and the author brings the key personalities to life. As someone w no econ background, I found the anecdotes in this book to solidify many of the somewhat abstract concepts that are routinely referenced in modern day discussions of financial crises and the global economy. It's also refreshing to revisit the history of a period, predominantly portrayed in terms of political events and military acts, from an alternate (i.e. finance-centric) perspective. History clearly repeats itself (with crashes and booms), and there are many lessons to be drawn from this fascinating and tumultuous period. The most ominous warning is a paraphrase near the beginning of the book from a best-selling 1909 pamphlet, which professed that the highly interlinked global economy of the time would provide the ultimate disincentive for any large-scale military conflict. Many of us may be tempted to make similar statements today. Those of us who do should be prepared to be proven very very wrong.

Fascinating. I thoroughly enjoyed it although succumbed to highlighting the key points being an extremely lightly educated student of economics. It is an up close look at the four men who controlled the banks of the major players following the crash of 1929 and the subsequent depression caused by their decisions as well as a look at Keynes.

A great read. Enjoyed both the "what happened", the "what lead up to it", and the thorough analysis which combines a look at the science of economics and the art of human nature. Fascinated by the details of the lives of the main players.

Prior to reading this book I had very little understanding of the financial situation in the world between the wars. This book explains it very well and one can understand the pressure that was put on Germany after the first world war and this probably contributed to the rise of the Nazis.

Even if you have no interest in world finance, this book is very readable. Real people a fleshed out and shown as living persons, not cardboard characters that seem to be in most books about historical personages.

Excellent book that gives the reader a good knowledge of the economic environment involving the greater nations in post world war I. The author writes in a way that people not familiar with economic technicalities are able to understand and enjoy. I recommend, specially to the ones interested in economy and history.

Very interesting, but a bit heavy going. There were some excellent pointers on what not to do in a major worldwide financial crisis which clearly assisted in the handling of the recent financial crisis.

The important players and their ascendence to positions of vital influence and how they left their indelible mark on the world of finance is told very well in book that will be read for decades to come

I THOUGHT THE BOOK WAS VERY WELL WRITTEN AND INFORMATIVE. I WAS WONDERING HOW HE WAS DEALING WITH CURRENCY EXCHANGES TO DESCRIBE DEBT AND HOW IT WAS PAID BACK... PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE EXPLAINED THAT AT THE BEGINNING. ALSO, I WISH THE SECTION RELATING THOSE ISSUES TO TODAY'S ISSUES WAS EXPANDED UPON... OTHER THAN THAT... A GREAT READ

Excellent book with fascinating narrative detailing the journey of the 4 powers of the world at them time as they face crisis, uncertainty, war and the overhang of the gold standard. The book is very well written and captivating from start to end (excluding a rather timid final chapter).

Everyone want's to read books about the federal reserve or whatever finance bubble or crash has just happened or is about to happen. If you want to read a book that will show you some real life consequences of screwing things up, this is a must read. World Depression, German hyper-inflation, gold standard. It's all here.

No better backgroud ever for understanding the effect of central banks, the gold standard and the blind competitiveness of the early Fereral Reserve in the US and it's relations with England's, France's, and the German Central Bank's and Bank leaders leading up to and after WW1.

This book provides an excellent, detailed history of the international financial structure and the people who managed it, from WWI, leading up to the Great Depression. But, it's written from the perspective of an Internationalist and Central Banking apologist, so it makes the assumption that people simply made mistakes within a flawed, but acceptable structure. John Maynard Keynes is painted as a prescient genius. The author is a former World Bank economist and a member of the Board of Trustees at the Brookings Institution. Although his perspective was no surprise, it was still a very informative book.

Insightful look into the intricate web of international financial disasters that amounted to the Great Depression and led to World War II.

Despite reading and learning about those events in countless classes over the years, I'm not sure I fully grasped the magnitude of those failures until reading this.

Phenomenal work, reads like fiction, but all rooted in fact. Best expose of that era - from a financial perspective - ever written. And you learn quite a bit about social and political history as well.

While reading this book, I could not help shaking my head marveling at how history repeats itself. The author paints a great picture of the happenings of the world leading up to and after the Great Depression. Unlike pure historical accounts of the time, he offers a peek into the personalities of the key players of the time, and this puts their decisions, good and bad, into perspective.

I now have a new level of respect for the Bernanke's of the world. Until I read this book, I did not realize how bad things could have been, if not for the aggressive intervention of the central banks. We're not out of the woods yet, but it definitely looks like the guys at the wheel have read their history.

While reading this book, I could not help shaking my head marveling at how history repeats itself. The author paints a great picture of the happenings of the world leading up to and after the Great Depression. Unlike pure historical accounts of the time, he offers a peek into the personalities of the key players of the time, and this puts their decisions, good and bad, into perspective.

I now have a new level of respect for the Bernanke's of the world. Until I read this book, I did not realize how bad things could have been, if not for the aggressive intervention of the central banks. We're not out of the woods yet, but it definitely looks like the guys at the wheel have read their history.

Heavy with detail, but well-written so the story remains clear. I missed a more explicit lesson for the present conditions of international finance, but may be that should not be expected from this work. A good read.

well written economic history...we are in a cycle of economic warfare, again, 10% unemployment, again, caused by the destabilzation of currencies by central governments failure to pay for the wars they fight...print currency and/or borrow money rather than "man-up" and raise taxes to pay for these adventures...

Couldn't put it down! Received the book in excellent time. Lords of finance is a good biographical history book about people and events involved in world financing from world war one to world war 2. Especially during the great depression.