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The Reckoning
The Reckoning
Oct 26, 2024 8:33 PM

Author:Jacob Soll

The Reckoning

In The Reckoning, award-winning historian Jacob Soll shows how the use and misuse of financial bookkeeping has determined the fates of entire societies. Time and again, Soll reveals, good and honest accounting has been a tool to build successful companies, states and empires. Yet when it is neglected or falls into the wrong hands, accounting has contributed to cycles of destruction that continue to this day. Combining rigorous scholarship and fresh storytelling, The Reckoning traces the surprisingly powerful influence of accounting on financial and political stability, from the powerful Medici bank in the 14th century Italy to the 2008 financial crisis.

Reviews

Essential reading .... As attempts to address the crisis are still inadequate - indeed, some government policies are making it worse - and as it shows little sign of improving in the near future, the facts of this human catastrophe can't be stated too much or too strongly. The first achievement of Anna Minton's book Big Capital is to do just that

—— Rowan Moore , Observer

Timely and relevant ... I can't recommend it enough

—— Josie Long

Anna Minton goes digging into the housing crisis in London and beyond. She gives us an account that indicates the crisis was made through decisions and wilful distortions ... reads like a sort of murder mystery, fully exposed

—— Saskia Sassen , author of Expulsions

Diligent and determined ... Eye-opening ... Minton builds a powerful case ... A call to imagine what is politically possible

—— Richard Godwin , Evening Standard

Fierce, incisive, important. Anyone who lives or works in a building should read this book

—— Will Self

A studied, sustained attack on a market that has been mishandled by successive governments for 40 years, not because politicians have been unable to remedy it but because it has been expedient not to. It makes for painful - yet compelling - reading

—— Nathan Brooker , Financial Times

Powerfully written ... It's hard not to come away with a fresh sense of outrage

—— Matthew Partridge , Moneyweek

Cutting through the jargon and spin [Minton] argues that housing is a human right, not purely a financial asset, and offers clear-sighted solutions

—— Antonia Charlesworth , Big Issue

Big Capital adds to what must be a commitment to change. It lays out clearly that the struggle for space will be at the top of the agenda within large cities

—— Lisa Mckenzie, Research Fellow in the Department of Sociology, London School of Economics

David Enrich is a masterful story teller ... Michael Lewis has a new rival

—— Sheila Bair, former chair of the FDIC and president of Washington College

An absorbing read that provides both a meticulous dissection of an immense scandal as well as a fascinating human story

—— Bethany McLean, bestselling author of THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM: THE AMAZING RISE AND SCANDALOUS FALL OF ENRON

For years, David Enrich has chased down the inside story of one the biggest financial frauds in history and was even threatened with jail by a British court if he printed what he knew. Now, in his blockbuster book The Spider Network, all of the secrets come spilling out…With an unerring eye for detail, Enrich shows in this masterful work how a toxic stew of greed, arrogance and a lust for power led to a criminal scheme of unparalleled dimensions. It should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand the dirty underbelly of the financial world.

—— Kurt Eichenwald, Pulitzer Prize winning author of THE INFORMANT

This dwarfs by orders of magnitude any financial scams in the history of markets.

—— Andrew Lo, Professor of Finance at MIT

In the hands of journalist David Enrich, the true tale of former UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes becomes a page-turning crime drama that engages – and educates – readers from beginning to end.

—— The Charlotte Observer

A gripping narrative ... impressive reporting and writing chops are on full display ... reads like a fast-paced John le Carré thriller, and never lets up

—— New York Times book review

a feat of reporting, and much of it reads like a novel

—— Leigh Gallagher , Washington Post

a remarkable read

—— John Arlidge , Sunday Times

jaw-dropping

—— Financial Times

a gripping financial thriller

—— Daily Mail

Well worth the read. I couldn’t put it down

—— Investing.com

A potent book... an incisive social critique that slices through financial jargon and gobbledygook to accurately map the all-too-common corruption in America’s hedge funds that are sucking up billions and billions that used to be invested for the growth and benefit of society as a whole in building infrastructure, expanding existing and new businesses and creating jobs

—— Winnipeg Free Press

An utterly absorbing look at how Cohen pushed his traders to the limit—that “black edge”—and how he mostly insulated himself from the potential ramifications. This fast-paced, true-life thriller will leave readers enraptured—and troubled

—— Booklist
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