The Penguin Podcast is back! Listen Now
The Great Crash 1929

The Great Crash 1929

Summary

'One of the most engrossing books I have ever read' Daily Telegraph

John Kenneth Galbraith's now-classic account of the 1929 stock market collapse remains the definitive book on the most disastrous cycle of boom and bust in modern times.

Vividly depicting the causes, effects, aftermath and long-term consequences of financial meltdown, Galbraith also describes the people and the corporations who were affected by the catastrophe. With its depiction of the 'gold-rush fantasy' ingrained in America's psychology, The Great Crash 1929 remains a penetrating study of human greed and folly.

About the author

John Kenneth Galbraith

John Kenneth Galbraith, born in 1908, was one of the twentieth century's most influential economists. He produced dozens of books and hundreds of articles on economics, politics, foreign policy and the arts, his most famous including the popular trilogy on economics, American Capitalism (1952), The Affluent Society (1958), and The New Industrial State (1967). He taught at Harvard University for many years and was also active in politics, serving as an adviser to Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more