This book offers a compelling examination of financial manias across three centuries, from the infamous South Sea Bubble of 1720 to the dot-com frenzy of the 1990s and China’s 2000s property surge. Quinn and Turner present a unifying theory: bubbles arise from a combustible mix of marketability, money/credit availability, and speculation. Their global survey—spanning Paris, Tokyo, New York, and beyond—reveals striking patterns: how new technologies or political shifts ignite irrational exuberance, and why some crashes devastate economies while others inadvertently drive progress.

The book excels in its detailed case studies, particularly lesser-known episodes like Australia’s 1880s land boom. The authors balance historical narrative with economic analysis, showing how speculative fevers reflect deeper societal behaviors. Their framework for identifying bubble precursors (like lax regulation or cultural obsession with "get-rich-quick" schemes) feels urgently relevant today. A must-read for investors and policymakers.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

A book that delivers on the promise of the title.

William and John have a hypothesis: three common themes to financial investment bubbles. They set on proving that theory based on a dozen or so boom and bust cycles over the course of three centuries.

It is an interesting journey and provides illuminating insights, but it reads at times a little too repetitive. This is good to bring home a point, hammering it almost into your brain, but makes the book itself a little less enjoyable to read.

Not a perfect score, but still a great book if you like books about investing in general.

A lot of good information in this book but it took a long time to get to it. A lot of history which can be good but it did not interest me in the least.

The book is very good from historical perspective. There are detailed and interesting observations on bubbles and how they happened. The analysis is detailed and comprehensive. Loved the thoughts on the consequences of bubbles. They seem to be important for the fever of sociey, technology advancement and overall economic progress.

This is an essential read for any investor with what is happening with markets around the world. I highly recommend it. History is essential in the stock market and this is a great way to learn it. Must read!