Fifty Years in Wall Street (Wiley Investment Classics)

Perhaps the 19th century's best book on Wall Street, Fifty Years in Wall Street provides a fascinating look at the financial markets during a period of rapid economic expansion. Henry Clews was a giant figure in finance at that time, and his firsthand account brings this colorful era to life like never before. He reveals shocking stories of political and economic manipulation and how he helped bring down the mighty Boss Tweed. He writes eloquently about the madness of the markets and how the era's greatest speculators amassed their fortunes. This book provides an expansive view of Wall Street in an era of little regulation, rampant political corruption, and rapid financial change.

Henry Clews was born in England in 1836 and emigrated to the United States in 1850. In 1859, he cofounded what became the second largest marketer of federal bonds during the Civil War. Later, he organized the "Committee of 70," which deposed the corrupt Tweed Ring in New York City, and served as an economic consultant to President Ulysses Grant.

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Fifty Years In Wall Street, 2008-11-19
This book provides some interesting anecdotes about the various players in the 1857 - 1907 period. These include Jay Gould, Cornelius Van Der Bilt, Dan'l Drew, Jim Fisk, Henry Villard, James R. Keene, Ferdinand Ward, etc. On the positive side, it is written by an individual who was part of the action at the time, which gives it some color. It also describes the financial mechanisms of the time -- forinstance, how "corners" were done, and how politicians were manipulated. However, the stories are disconnected and poorly organized. To put together the full story of any one character, you need to hop from chapter to chapter. Part of this may be because this version of the book consists of excepts from the 1000 page origonal. Overall, a lively, anecdotal addition to the financial history of this period


8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

When giants walked Wall Street, 2007-12-30
While there is a lot of investment wisdom to be gleamed from this book, I recommend it more for the stories of larger than life giants who made and lost vast fortunes waging war amongst themselves with shares and debentures instead of cannons. If like me you believe it's impossible to understand our current markets without an appreciation of the history that created them then you will find Clews' first hand account of a never to repeated era both enjoyable and educational.

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