1929

Sorkin's vivid and forensic account . . . is a real eye-opener . . . a work of true scholarship, the fruits of eight years of research by Sorkin drawing on an extensive array of materials, including personal correspondence and unpublished papers whose details have been woven into the story of the Great Crash for the first time. 1929 will have a distinct place within the Great Crash/Depression genre, just as did Too Big to Fail and for the same reasons—a people’s tragedy told through the lens of the leading players and their personalities, friends and families -- Andy Haldane * Financial Times *
Totally fascinating, chilling... this is a fastidiously composed and gripping account of greed and ego versus accountability and responsibility colliding -- Chris Evans
Mr. Sorkin wisely tells this sprawling story in a focused way, reconstructing how crucial figures experienced the ructions almost hour by hour . . . Mr. Sorkin’s coverage of the crisis in 2008 was based on hundreds of interviews, but most of the people in this tale have been dead for decades. You would be forgiven for forgetting it. The combination of extensive research and a lively tone makes both the crash and the men involved feel more recent * Economist *
In 1929 Andrew Ross Sorkin brings the drama of the crash to a high pitch. He has consulted weather reports, diaries, architectural records and every newspaper imaginable to create a vivid and historically accurate account of the boom, crash, and aftermath. Although Mr. Sorkin offers hints that the crash looms larger in our memory than it did in the moment, his focus is on portraying the lives of the people who lived through it. It is one of the best narrative histories I’ve read * The Wall Street Journal *
Vivid, pacy, a gallery of finely drawn pen portraits... shows how delusion, myopia and greed led to financial disaster... [Sorkin] reconstructs a Wall Street that is at once a period piece and familiar setting -- Pratinav Anil * The Times *
An absolutely riveting & illuminating account of the '29 market crash, one that clarifies many misinterpretations & has deep resonance today -- David Grann, New York Times bestselling author
Groundbreaking... Whereas Galbraith saw the crash through the lens of economics, Sorkin comes at it as a scoop-driven storytelling business journalist, of which he is one of the best. Having written the definitive fly-on-the-wall account of the financial crisis of 2008, Too Big to Fail, and co-created the hit hedge fund television melodrama Billions, Sorkin is again strong on character, drama and narrative, bringing events and long-dead personalities to life in all their complexity and colour -- Matthew Bishop * Observer *
One of my books of 2025... a character-led study of the events leading up to the Great Crash -- Lewis Goodhall * New Statesman *
I am absolutely loving 1929... He writes things so brilliantly, he writes it like a page turner and its absolutely fascinating… it’s an extraordinary story. -- Marina Hyde * The Rest is Entertainment *
A new [Andrew Ross Sorkin] book is always at the top of my reading list -- Bill Gates