Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0195115120, Hardcover)

The comprehensive Wall Street: A History, by Manhattan College finance professor Charles Geisst, is a meticulous examination of the economic cycles, legendary financiers, and monumental transactions that have shaped the fiscal structure of the United States. The sweeping tale ranges from Revolutionary War days to the California Gold Rush, from the Civil War to the Depression, and from the great 1950s bull market to the ongoing 1990s boom. Geisst's narrative is pinned to the relationship between finance and government, and tracks the latter's increasing involvement in the former to show where matters stand today.