Author(s): Michael Lewis

Business

The Big Short tells a story of spectacular, epic folly. It has taken the world's greatest financial meltdown to bring Michael Lewis back to the subject that made him famous. His international bestseller Liar's Poker exposed the greed and carnage of the City and Wall Street in the 1980s; he wrote it as a cautionary tale, but people seem to have read it as a how-to guide. Now, he wants to settle accounts. In this visceral tour to the heart of the financial system, Michael Lewis takes us around the globe and back decades to trace the origins of the current crisis. He meets the people who saw it coming, the people who were asleep at the wheel and the people who were actively driving us all of a cliff. How could we have all been so deluded for quite so long? Where did it all start? Was it systemic? Was it avoidable? And who the hell can we blame? Michael Lewis has the answers. No one is better qualified to get to the heart of this labyrinthine story. And no one can make it such an enjoyable ride along the way. 'Probably the single best piece of financial journalism ever written.' Felix Salmon, Reuters 'Is it possible to read a book about the men who profited from the financial crisis and enjoy it so much that you laugh out loud? ... Each chapter is full of the kind of dialogue you do not hear even in the best-written Hollywood films ... The book to read.' John Arlidge, Sunday Times 'Hugely entertaining' Economist