With degrees in economics from the Universities of Cambridge and Harvard, Liaquat Ahamed has witnessed at close hand the way countries' economic policy is made and executed as a professional economist at the World Bank during the 1980s. He has since worked as an investment manager, with a ring-side seat at a sequence of financial crises, from the collapse of the European Monetary System in the 1990s to the current 'sub-prime' economic downturn. This is his first book.

"NIALL FERGUSON: 'Highly readable... [Ahamed] cannot have foreseen how timely his book would be." FT "ROBERT PESTON: 'Compelling and convincing...humanises the world's descent into economic chaos.'" Sunday Times "'Fascinating... Anyone who wants to understand the origins of the economic world we live in would do well to read this book...brisk, original, incisive and entertaining." Michael Beschloss "One of those rare books - authoritative, readable and relevant - that puts the "story" back into history... a spellbinding, richly human [and] cinematic narrative." Strobe Talbott "Absorbing [and] provocative, not least because it is still relevant." The Economist

With degrees in economics from the Universities of Cambridge and Harvard, Liaquat Ahamed has witnessed at close hand the way countries' economic policy is made and executed as a professional economist at the World Bank during the 1980s. He has since worked as an investment manager, with a ring-side seat at a sequence of financial crises, from the collapse of the European Monetary System in the 1990s to the current 'sub-prime' economic downturn. This is his first book.

"NIALL FERGUSON: 'Highly readable... [Ahamed] cannot have foreseen how timely his book would be." FT "ROBERT PESTON: 'Compelling and convincing...humanises the world's descent into economic chaos.'" Sunday Times "'Fascinating... Anyone who wants to understand the origins of the economic world we live in would do well to read this book...brisk, original, incisive and entertaining." Michael Beschloss "One of those rare books - authoritative, readable and relevant - that puts the "story" back into history... a spellbinding, richly human [and] cinematic narrative." Strobe Talbott "Absorbing [and] provocative, not least because it is still relevant." The Economist

With degrees in economics from the Universities of Cambridge and Harvard, Liaquat Ahamed has witnessed at close hand the way countries' economic policy is made and executed as a professional economist at the World Bank during the 1980s. He has since worked as an investment manager, with a ring-side seat at a sequence of financial crises, from the collapse of the European Monetary System in the 1990s to the current 'sub-prime' economic downturn. This is his first book.

"NIALL FERGUSON: 'Highly readable... [Ahamed] cannot have foreseen how timely his book would be." FT "ROBERT PESTON: 'Compelling and convincing...humanises the world's descent into economic chaos.'" Sunday Times "'Fascinating... Anyone who wants to understand the origins of the economic world we live in would do well to read this book...brisk, original, incisive and entertaining." Michael Beschloss "One of those rare books - authoritative, readable and relevant - that puts the "story" back into history... a spellbinding, richly human [and] cinematic narrative." Strobe Talbott "Absorbing [and] provocative, not least because it is still relevant." The Economist