Bananas

Daniel Kurtz-Phelan in the New York Times Sunday Book Review

The Goalkeeper’s History of Britain

John Williams in When Saturday Comes

The Last of the Imperious Rich: Lehman Brothers, 1844-2008

“Chapman, financial reporter and editor, weaves a fascinating story framed in the history of the times during which Lehman Brothers helped shape financial markets … this book will enthrall Wall Street aficionados, as Chapman concludes Lehman Brothers died when … a once proud institution was caught peddling junk to the world.” Mary Whaley, Booklist

“An excellent, fast-paced account of the rise and fall of Lehman Brothers. Peter Chapman captures the firm’s high and low moments with admirable clarity, especially the hubris that led to its ultimate demise. A valuable addition to Wall Street history.” Charles Geisst, author of Collateral Damage and Wall Street: A History

“Gripping financial history. Peter Chapman has connected the dots from the unlikely beginnings of Henry Lehman in antebellum Alabama to the adventures of Bobbie Lehman on Wall Street to the domineering, and ultimately destructive, rule by Dick Fuld. Chapman’s story is an object lesson in the dangers of aggressive short-term thinking in finance. Lehman’s journey from helping companies like Campbell Soup to perpetrating modern financial schemes is a parable of how the markets went wrong.” Frank Partnoy, George E. Barrett Professor of Law and Finance, University of San Diego; author of The Match King