In 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History—And How It Shattered a Nation, Andrew Ross Sorkin offers a gripping narrative of the 1929 stock-market collapse, tracing how the exuberance of the 1920s turned into financial catastrophe.

He follows key figures—bankers, speculators, regulators—and reveals how rampant speculation, loose credit, and a belief that “this time is different” lead to disaster. Sorkin shows how the crash didn’t just destroy fortunes overnight, but also exposed structural weaknesses in the American economy and society that would shape the coming decades.
Beyond the fall, Sorkin examines the aftermath: the political and regulatory reaction, the cascading impact on millions of ordinary Americans, and the birth of major reforms like the Glass-Steagall Act and the Securities and Exchange Commission. He draws parallels between then and now, reminding us that the lessons of 1929 are urgent: unchecked risk-taking, hubris, and inequality can bring down even the most powerful system¹.