#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “It is one of the best narrative histories I’ve read.” — The Wall Street Journal A New York Times Notable Book of 2025 • One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2025 • Named a BEST BOOK OF 2025 by The Washington Post , TIME , The Economist , Air Mail , Bloomberg , Fast Company , Katie Couric Media, and History From the bestselling author of Too Big to Fail , “the definitive history of the 2008 banking crisis,” ( The Atlantic ) comes a riveting narrative of the most infamous stock market crash in history—one with ripple effects that still shape our society today. In 1929 , the world watched in shock as the unstoppable Wall Street bull market went into a freefall, wiping out fortunes and igniting a depression that would reshape a generation. But behind the flashing ticker tapes and panicked traders, another drama unfolded—one of visionaries and fraudsters, titans and dreamers, euphoria and ruin. With unparalleled access to historical records and newly uncovered documents, New York Times bestselling author Andrew Ross Sorkin takes readers inside the chaos of the crash, behind the scenes of a raging battle between Wall Street and Washington and the larger-than-life characters whose ambition and naïveté in an endless boom led to disaster. The dizzying highs and brutal lows of this era eerily mirror today’s world—where markets soar, political tensions mount, and the fight over financial influence plays out once again. This is not just a story about money. 1929 is a tale of power, psychology, and the seductive illusion that this time is different. It’s about disregarded alarm bells, financiers who fell from grace, and skeptics who saw the crash coming—only to be dismissed until it was too late. Hailed as a landmark book, Too Big to Fail reimagined how financial crises are told. Now, with 1929 , Sorkin delivers an immersive, electrifying account of the most pivotal market collapse of all time—with lessons that remain as urgent as ever. More than just a history, 1929 is a crucial blueprint for understanding the cycles of speculation, the forces that drive financial upheaval, and the warning signs we ignore at our peril. “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 “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.” — The Financial Times “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.” — The Economist “It would be tempting to say that among bestselling American financial authors, Andrew Ross Sorkin is the new Michael Lewis . . . 1929 is an epic exercise in bringing history to life through its big characters. Like Too Big to Fail it will be labelled ‘definitive’—and deservedly so.” — Spears “A fable of greed, corruption and incompetence to shock the conscience. It’s exhilarating to watch these men rise and fall and, as in Too Big To Fail , Sorkin carries his readers along on a current of astonishing detail.” —The New York Times Book Review “When a story of immense historical gravity—the drama and trauma of 1929—meets a writer steeped in its scholarship and gifted with a rare clarity of vision, the result is a work of lasting resonance: tangible and immediate. In 1929 , Andrew Ross Sorkin captures the moment when ambition, greed, and speculative euphoria collided to plunge America into an economic abyss, sparking the Great Depression. Through vivid storytelling and a cast of powerfully rendered characters, Sorkin reveals a nation at the breaking point—grappling with denial, reckoning, and the steep cost of excess. It’s a haunting elegy for a fractured era, and a timel