Liar's Poker (Hodder Great Reads) (Paperback)

If you are searching for a justification for the existence of people who make a huge amount of money out of a bit of financial alchemy, you won't find it here (or, truth be told, in any book written by anyone who still has the faintest grip on reality). But as a guide to the sort of people that inhabit Wall Street and The City there is none better. A page turner if ever there was one.

Michael Lewis has managed to provide an insight view of events which shaped the financial world until today, drawing a vivid picture of important figures on Wall Street (e.g. John Meriwhether, who later founded LTCM with Scholes et al). That alone would be worth a read and I agree with what the book cover says: 'should be made a legally required component of every MBA course'.

However, what makes this a must-read is the fact that the entertainment value is tremendous without drifting into polemic territory or distorting the facts. Yes, it is a subjective write-up, but no, it is not to defend the authors' involvement in the events, rather the contrary.

Highly recommended to anyone having to deal with this industry and the markets, but even more so to 'outsiders' wanting to get some inside information (which unfortunately is not tradable anymore).