- Paperback: 312 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Ireland; First Paperback Edition. edition (5 Nov 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1844882160
- ISBN-13: 978-1844882168
- Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.2 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 275,721 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Bankers: How the Banks Brought Ireland to Its Knees
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Product Description
Review
'Prose that sizzles on the page' --Irish Examiner
'Read this super book. Cry, get mad and get even' --Joan Burton, Irish Times
'Excellent chapter on Sean FitzPatrick. Worth buying for this alone' --Irish Independent
'Read this super book. Cry, get mad and get even' --Joan Burton, Irish Times
'Excellent chapter on Sean FitzPatrick. Worth buying for this alone' --Irish Independent
Product Description
Two years ago, the Irish economy was still booming; now, it faces an unprecedented crisis. There is, of course, an international context for these developments, but the Irish story - a story of extraordinary collusion between banks, regulators and the government - is perhaps unique in its tawdriness.
This is the story Shane Ross - journalist, independent Senator, and long-time champion of citizens against misbehaving corporations - tells in The Bankers, going behind the scenes and the headlines to explain what happened, how it happened, and who made it happen. They're all here: Sean Fitzpatrick and the other bank bosses; Patrick Neary and the other members of Ireland's failed regulatory apparatus; the property developers, who dominated the banks' lending to a ruinous degree; and the politicians, who inflated the property bubble and have
allowed the banks to dictate the terms of their bailout to an astonishing degree. Shane Ross knows the stories of these people and what they got up to better than anyone, and in The Bankers he makes sense of a scandal that will haunt Ireland for years to come.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A riveting account of the most stunning economic crises of our day and yet more reporting from the journalist and politician who was there first.
A rollicking good read, completely unputdownable.
As one of the most well respected and long-standing Independent politicians in Ireland, Shane Ross has the stories from behind the meeting room doors and he doesn't shirk from telling them. The writing here is fast paced and hugely accessible, without any of the patronising tone that has crept into too many of the other books out there on Ireland's banking crisis.
'The Bankers' is the most truthful and frank account of the Irish economic meltdown I have read. It is also the most revealing and the one from which I actually learnt the most about the whole situation. Informative and illuminating, I simply cannot recommend this book highly enough, especially when it's such a thoroughly engrossing and entertaining read as well!
A rollicking good read, completely unputdownable.
As one of the most well respected and long-standing Independent politicians in Ireland, Shane Ross has the stories from behind the meeting room doors and he doesn't shirk from telling them. The writing here is fast paced and hugely accessible, without any of the patronising tone that has crept into too many of the other books out there on Ireland's banking crisis.
'The Bankers' is the most truthful and frank account of the Irish economic meltdown I have read. It is also the most revealing and the one from which I actually learnt the most about the whole situation. Informative and illuminating, I simply cannot recommend this book highly enough, especially when it's such a thoroughly engrossing and entertaining read as well!
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ross covers all the bases in this tome on the death knell of Ireland's finances. Written in an engaging and highly readable style that will be familiar to patrons of the Sunday Independent, where Ross is business editor, this book is carefully researched and yet packed with narrative detail. The author, as an Independent senator and financial journalist, seems uniquely placed to comment on the Irish banking crisis. The book particularly shines where Ross includes his own personal asides and recalls conversations (and run-ins) with some of the big names of the crisis.
Along with surveying the mis-deeds of bankers, stockbrokers, developers, politicians (and more), Ross does not omit to include the ever-important global context for the crisis. Whilst never expunging the bankers of their guilt, this does provide useful background and ensures interest can be kept for those more interested in how Ireland's crisis fits in with the rest of the world.
Undoubtedly, this work will chime in well with the sentiments of many who, warily eyeing the forthcoming NAMA legislation, feel cheated by the banks. And yet in his narrative Ross ensures we recognise the culture that fostered such recklessness.
I will be recommending this book to anyone who has any interest in the current state of Irish economics, and slotting it in on the Christmas list for all those 'hard to buy-for' friends.
Along with surveying the mis-deeds of bankers, stockbrokers, developers, politicians (and more), Ross does not omit to include the ever-important global context for the crisis. Whilst never expunging the bankers of their guilt, this does provide useful background and ensures interest can be kept for those more interested in how Ireland's crisis fits in with the rest of the world.
Undoubtedly, this work will chime in well with the sentiments of many who, warily eyeing the forthcoming NAMA legislation, feel cheated by the banks. And yet in his narrative Ross ensures we recognise the culture that fostered such recklessness.
I will be recommending this book to anyone who has any interest in the current state of Irish economics, and slotting it in on the Christmas list for all those 'hard to buy-for' friends.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Shane Ross has done the citizens of Ireland a great service.He has exposed the real LITTLE PEOPLE of Ireland. What a gang of cunning cute little people! We have Fingers, Fat Fill, Gleeson, Sheehy, Goggin,Seanai Fitz who wined and dined and manipulated themselves into position of greed on the backs of others. What a dunghill. The smell.Unpatriotic also comes to mind. There was a time when these people would not be free to walk the land.Of course I am mad as hell.
This book is well written full of facts. I just could not put it down.There is nothing left to be said after reading this book. The two people who come well out of this national disaster is Brian Linehan and Shane Ross. Than you Shane Ross. Wasters is my next read. Keep up the good work.
This book is well written full of facts. I just could not put it down.There is nothing left to be said after reading this book. The two people who come well out of this national disaster is Brian Linehan and Shane Ross. Than you Shane Ross. Wasters is my next read. Keep up the good work.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent study of how the capitalist class ruined Ireland
Shane Ross, a Senator and also the business editor of Ireland's Sunday Independent, gives us the inside story of how Ireland's ruling class wrecked its economy. Read more
Published 13 months ago by William Podmore
THE BIG ISSUE?
At the nadir of the banking meltdown one of the Irish banking chiefs said in a television interview that from now on he was going to concentrate on only the big issues. Read more
Published 14 months ago by DOPPLEGANGER
excellent book by shane ross
shane ross gives a brilliant insight to the carry on in the banks a brilliant man and a pity there's not more like him
Published 15 months ago by Mr. Patrick Mcnamara
misfits
thank you for my order. i received in good time prior to christmas despite the problems with post due to snow etc. Read more
Published 16 months ago by annieb
Interesting Read but dry in areas.
I liked this book as it seems very real as to what really happend behind the scenes. Hats off to Ross as he is thorough and honest.
Published on 28 Mar 2010 by A reader
If this book doesn't make you cross, nothing will.
Christmas bought us a raft of books on the recent collapse of the Irish economy, one of which was "The Bankers: How the Banks Ruined the Irish Economy". Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2010 by J. Cronin
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