Rating: 
Summary: Dull, duller, dullest...
Review: ...and slow, slower, slowest. This book tries -- but fails. Other reviewers have given it credit for explaining some of the complex math involved in hedging and trading but it fumbles this task. The explanations are too complex (and written in turgid prose) for the novice and grossly oversimplified (still written in turgid prose) for anyone with even a smattering of knowledge in this area. Insight into the principals of LTCM is non-existent; the author has no access to them. The prose style is consistently whatever the opposite of scintillating is. And the pace is leaden...far too much back story. This is a 224-page book (not counting the Afterword, notes and index). LTCM isn't even formed until more than halfway through (p. 125) and doesn't go bust (the most interesting part of the story; who would read a book about LTCM if it hadn't done so?) until p. 175. A waste of time.
Rating: 
Summary: More a history of finance..
Review: A great review of the history of modern portfolio theory and its impact on the principals of LTCM. Only a few chapters were devoted to the collapse of LTCM. It could have been crisper if there were better insider stories rather than third-hand assessments.However, the historical perspective and the input many of the LTCM principals had on the evolving resaerch is worth the read.
Rating: 
Summary: Debunking money!
Review: A must read and a cool (as they say in California) book. Dunbar does a very job at conveying the spirit of modern finance and at debunking fallacies. Don't tell anybody that you did not read it: You would look like a fool!
Rating:
Summary: Insightful!
Review: Author Nicholas Dunbar captures both the personalities and complex financial theories that built Long-Term Capital Management, the hedge fund that threatened to bring down world markets in its spectacular 1998 collapse. His explanation of arcane markets will be understandable to the lay reader, although the details may be hard to follow if you don't have a solid grounding in statistics, math or economics. Our one wish would be for more attention to the aftermath and the unprecedented bail-out orchestrated by U.S. financial regulators. But even in light of this shortcoming, we [...] recommend this fascinating real-life market saga to general and business readers, and to anyone who ever comes anywhere near the financial markets.
Rating:
Summary: Short on LTCM, Long on History - Live by the Sword...
Review: Bad News First: the book doesn't get into LTCM in depth until half way through - the history behind the players was interesting, but do we really need to know about Hammurabi? I began to wonder why there were so many analogies to physics - Dunbar's background explains it.I've been working on Wall Street for about 10 yrs with hedges funds and bond funds, so I find the detailed descriptions of the numerous trades interesting, but I'm sure it would tough for readers who don't work with these financial instruments every day. Good Stuff: A satisfying ending to a financial debacle... ...read the book and see what I mean - it's definitely worth it for those of you who can plow through the intricacies of multiple spread/arbitrage plays.
Rating:
Summary: Stellar introduction to the world of derivatives and LTCM
Review: Despite the title of this book, LTCM does not show up until more than halfway through, and the reader should be thankful. Instead of yet another journalistic rehash of the collapse of LTCM, Nicholas Dunbar has written a thoughtful history of derivatives products and trading which serves as a terrific overview of the subject. Readers not familiar with derivatives may find some of this tough going, and occasionally Dunbar's explanations become confused, but all the content is there. Once you do get to LTCM, the story becomes faster-paced while remaining intellectually rigorous, and you will understand exactly what happened to the fund.
Rating:
Summary: Great narrative of financial engineering...
Review: Dunbar does a wonderful job in recounting the rise and fall of Long Term Capital. This book not only tactfully interweaves the character of the powerful wall street players with their intricate and ingenious strategies, it also effectively accomplishes presesnting the macroeconomic landscape for the reader through well chosen examples from various historical periods. Suspenseful yet fascinating events keep the reader digging through the pages. Though by no means light, armed with basic knowledge in financial derivatives, the reader can easily appreciate the complex positions taken by LTCM, but more importantly, see how these artificially engineered financial instruments, when designed "properly", can generate such enormous impact on an international scale. The story only touches the surface of the vastly unlimited world of financial engineering, but it is inspiring to read about 7 finance geniuses attempt to create an empire capable of manipulating trillion dollar worth of financial asset and derive billion of virtually riskless profits from thin air. I highly recommend this book to anyone who deeply believes in market inefficiency. It sits in my small collection along with Liar's P, The Market Wiz,... and rightfully so.
Rating:
Summary: Too bad the author worships Greenspan
Review: Dunbar has written a fine book, which explains lucidly such crucial statistical concepts as norm and standard deviation, then works step by step from those foundations. There is a lot here that deserves praise, BUT....I was turned off by Dunbar's uncritical attitude towatd Alan Greenspan in particular, and central bankers in general. The book's epilogue actually begins with the question, "In the end, did Alan Greenspan save the world?" It doesn't provide an explicit answer, but the general drift of the final pages of this book is in the direction of a "yes." The policy implication, which I think is dead wrong, is that central bankers need to be given more power and discretion so they can "save the world" more reliably in the future. Actually, Dunbar's own evidence shows the LTCM was the victim, not the cause, of such events as the collapse of Russia's ruble. Greenspan did not "save the world" from such shocks, which are continuing and must continue. He simply took part in one particular instance of their repurcussions. Still, it is a merit of this book that it gives you the conceptual tools with which to argue with its conclusions.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting Story and a good history of finance
Review: I am not a financial analyst and I enjoyed this book immensely. Mr. Dunbar manages to explain both the academic details of the financial theory and the human interest in the story of LTCM without boring those of us who work elsewhere than Wall Street or the City of London. He gives a good historical background of financial theory back to the time of Hammurabi. This book explains the seemy side of LTCM as well as the academic side much better than the PBS show did. Each of the major players emerged as a complex and interesting human being. I will be looking forward to his next book.
Rating:
Summary: Really the Better Book on the LTCM story
Review: I didn't know this book existed until Lowenstein's book on LTCM came out recently with lots of publicity. After reading both titles, I have to rate this one far better for its information content. Lowenstein's book has lots of stories on the human side of the LTCM debacle, except Meriwether, whose information is skimpy at best. Dunbar's book, on the other hand, tells you how the deals were done and why they went wrong. It does take more time to go through this book unless one knows things like "asset swap" already, but it is well worth the effort. Lowenstein's book is like the Hollywood version of things, dramatic but superficial. Dunbar's book is more of a biography of modern finance, in which you can really learn a lot.
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