Rating: 
Summary: Slow read, but worth it
Review: Excellent book about financial speculation. A bit sobering, given the fact that the recent internet bubble burst was not the first of it's kind and probably won't be the last. This book offers as much history of business and commerce as it does speculation. The second half of the book, which focuses mostly on American speculation (railroads, the great depression, etc) is much more entertaining than the first half which explains European speculation and is a little harder to relate to.For anyone serious about being an active participant in any market (stocks, real estate, anything!) this should be a pre-requisite. My favorite quote: "The four most expensive words in the English language are 'This Time It's Different'"
Rating:
Summary: A Well Thought Out History Of Financial Speculation
Review: First, what is financial speculation? Edward Chancellor uses this description of the asset bubbles that are known in occur in free market economies. These bubbles are when assets are priced to unrealistic levels based on the "greater fool theory." (That a greater fool then the current buyer will come along to take the asset off his hands for a higher price.) Mr. Chancellor gives a history of the major bubbles that have occurred. What is best about this book is that the author does a great job of laying out the key factors that are present to allow these bubbles to occur. (One must read the book to find out.) Further, he lays out the history behind the factors. Any investors should read this book so that they may know the signs of boom and bust, plus appreciate the period we have recently been through in the stock market.
Rating:
Summary: Well written, rich in information and well balanced
Review: For everyone interested in macroeconomic development and, of course, financial "speckulation" (read the book and you understand), this is required reading. Splendidly written and very informed--as one would expect from a Oxbridge educated lad, writing for the FT and The Economist--the author os able to pull of an exciting journey through the very early beginnings of speculation and to describe more thoroughly the most important bubbles; their origins, their devleopment and their ending. Most striking is the many parallels and the never ending belief of speculators in a "new" era, where old measures, a good biz plan, earnings and profits for a company (or "fundamentals") can be easily neglected for promises in the future due to a "new economy" where everything has changed. Sounds familiar? Well ask the Brits in the late seventeenth hundreds...
Rating:
Summary: Well written, informative, and informed!
Review: For everyone interested in macroeconomic development and, of course, financial "speckulation" (read the book and you'll understand), this is required reading. Splendidly written and very informed--as one would expect from an Oxbridge educated lad, writing for the FT and The Economist--the author is able to pull of an exciting journey through the very early beginnings of speculation and to describe more thoroughly the most important bubbles; their origins, their devleopment and their ending. Most striking is the many parallels and the never ending belief of speculators in a "new" era, where old measures, a good biz plan, earnings and profits for a company (or "fundamentals") can be easily neglected for promises in the future due to a "new economy" where everything has changed. Sounds familiar? Well, ask the British in the late seventeenth hundreds...
Rating:
Summary: Well written, rich in information and well balanced
Review: For everyone interested in macroeconomic development and, of course, financial "speckulation" (read the book and you understand), this is required reading. Splendidly written and very informed--as one would expect from a Oxbridge educated lad, writing for the FT and The Economist--the author os able to pull of an exciting journey through the very early beginnings of speculation and to describe more thoroughly the most important bubbles; their origins, their devleopment and their ending. Most striking is the many parallels and the never ending belief of speculators in a "new" era, where old measures, a good biz plan, earnings and profits for a company (or "fundamentals") can be easily neglected for promises in the future due to a "new economy" where everything has changed. Sounds familiar? Well ask the Brits in the late seventeenth hundreds...
Rating:
Summary: Well written, informative, and informed!
Review: For everyone interested in macroeconomic development and, of course, financial "speckulation" (read the book and you'll understand), this is required reading. Splendidly written and very informed--as one would expect from an Oxbridge educated lad, writing for the FT and The Economist--the author is able to pull of an exciting journey through the very early beginnings of speculation and to describe more thoroughly the most important bubbles; their origins, their devleopment and their ending. Most striking is the many parallels and the never ending belief of speculators in a "new" era, where old measures, a good biz plan, earnings and profits for a company (or "fundamentals") can be easily neglected for promises in the future due to a "new economy" where everything has changed. Sounds familiar? Well, ask the British in the late seventeenth hundreds...
Rating:
Summary: A great insight...
Review: For those of us for whom this bubble was the first, it is a fascinating history on how these events form. Puts everything in perspective and maybe offers insight into the signs to watch for when the next one forms.
Rating:
Summary: The most comprehensive coverage of financial speculations
Review: From Tulip Mania to Railroads mania to Internet mania, this book covers it all. This book basically explains that the technological revolution changes from time to time and the financial market reacts accordingly, but one thing that never changes is the psychology of speculators and investors. In every mania, there are people who make tons of money and there are suckers (especially the novice investors) who lose tons of money. This book reminds financial speculators to take money off the table when the novice investors start to notice that the bull market is in town. Furthermore, the author clearly elaborates on how the previous speculative bubbles started and how each of them ended. This part of the book is very important for traders to understand in order to avoid the market downside when the bubble finally bursts. The author also points out that most of the past exuberances during the mania led to financial panics and economic disasters. This part of the book indirectly explains the action of the Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan who recently has been busy raising interest rates to fight off the wealth effect from the internet bubble. In conclusion, I recommend the public investors to read this book so they can take advantage of the next speculative bubble.
Rating: 
Summary: *
Review: Good book if you're interested in the history of speculation (not that you have too many choices in this field). A lot of interesting tidbits and historical parallels. Human emotions as basic premises of speculation don't change, so markets repeat themselves all the time. Minuses: first, a bit biased against speculators (as you might guess from the title). There's little explicit criticism, but if you have anything to do with trading, you'll probably notice little quirks that get quite annoying. It was not absolutely necessary to say "HORDES of day traders", or to quote three times in two different places a Malaysian prime minister who suggested executing currency traders and that Soros is a head of an international conspiracy (I would much prefer quotes from Soros himself), or to harp on the vices of momentum trading, etc. Wasn't there at least something good in the history of financial markets? The unending chain of crooks, crimes and crises after a while gets quite depressing. Writing this review on Amazon.com while listening to my Sony player, can I be really that critical of the US "internet bubble" and the Japanese economy? Second, mostly editors' oversight, absolutely annoying footnotes. Almost each page has a footnote which is nothing but a couple of paragraphs of text of the same importance as the rest of the material. Why not just putting them with the rest of the stuff? I can't imagine anyone would want to miss them, so why creating unnecessary pain?
Rating: 
Summary: Devil Take the Hindmost
Review: Having read multiple books highlighting the changing landscape of securities markets and valuation models, Devil Take the Hindmost is a good compilation on the history of speculation and how it breaks from the academic theories concerning rational markets. The book's perspective is timely based on the current market's mentality.
| 
