1929 Audiobook By Andrew Ross Sorkin cover art

1929

Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History—and How It Shattered a Nation

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1929

By: Andrew Ross Sorkin
Narrated by: Andrew Ross Sorkin
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“It is one of the best narrative histories I’ve read.”—Judge Glock, The Wall Street Journal

Named a Most Anticipated Book by New York Times Books Review, TIME, Washington Post, Associated Press, Town & Country, New York Post, and more

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 listeners 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 naivete 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.

©2025 Andrew Ross Sorkin (P)2025 Penguin Audio
Americas Banks & Banking Economic History Economics United States Wall Street Banking Emotionally Gripping Stock Taxation Socialism Capitalism

Critic reviews

“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.”—Judge Glock, 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

“Andrew Ross Sorkin has done it again. 1929 is mesmerizing from beginning to end—a deeply important book. Like Too Big to Fail, it’s a masterclass in narrative nonfiction, a dazzling tale of a pivotal moment in history brought to life through meticulous reporting. The colorful characters, the politics, the financial mania—it all unfolds with eerie relevance. You feel like you’re reading about today. I was blown away.”—Walter Isaacson, New York Times bestselling author of Steve Jobs and Benjamin Franklin

All stars
Most relevant
Kind of drops off toward the end. Needed more content, say another year of content and research.

Book quality.

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Enjoyed it. Could not stop listening. Finished it in three days. Now I want to listen to his other book, too big to fail.

Amazing Book

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This book serves to set straight the foolishness of surface-level assumptions about the chaos of the crash and following depression of 1929. The character development draws the reader in in a most spectacular way.

Captivating!

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This book is actually a time machine that takes you back to 1929 and a few years after. The research is phenomenal, and the story reads like the kind of fiction where you can't stop reading. So many characters and events and all explained in a way that even a guy like me (I've never balanced a check book in my life) understood what was going on.

The author starts out in March 1929 and tells us what the biggest players of the day (and some of the smallest investors) were doing and saying in that year leading up to the fateful month of October and Black Tuesday. It's mesmerizing, eavesdropping on telephone transcripts and 95-year-old messages written as the panic was happening. One of the amazing events is Winston Churchill was actually at the Exchange the day of the crash and that night all the financiers and bankers had a big dinner in honor of his visit to NYC. And we learn what was said that night and many nights thereafter as people tried to wrap their brains around the biggest crash in financial history.

It's scary how many parallels there are to today. And of course, greed and people who think it can't happen here (now, to me etc) are always with us. Sorkin is a TV veteran and the reading is top-notch.

This is a book you'll never forget. Very highly recommended.

Amazing story

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Next time hire a narrator. Reading tone and cadence was hokey at times. Not a bad book but could have been better.

Wanted it to be as good as Too Big To Fail

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Very good descriptions of the many individuals that affected the events of the time. A good telling of the story.

Masterful telling of the story of the events leading up to and subsequent to the crash of 1929.

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No new material. This is history told as “one damn thing after another”. Could have been written by AI

Very disappointing.

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Great book about the crash of 1929, but the description is misleading. At no point in the book does the author "draw a parallel" to today's market, or any parallel to the crypto currency craz as suggested. If you have been lured into buying this book for parallel context, you will be disappointed.

Description is misleading

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