Propaganda on Who Was “at Fault” for the Great Depression
Andrew Ross Sorkin, 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in History—and How It Shattered a Nation (New York: Viking Penguin, October 14, 2025). Hardcover: $35. 592pp.
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“…Narrative of the most infamous stock market crash in history… 1929 unravels the greed, blind optimism, and human folly that led to an era-defining collapse—one with ripple effects that still shape our society today. In 1929, the world watched in shock as the unstoppable Wall Street bull market went into a freefall, wiping out fortunes and igniting a depression that would reshape a generation.” US began collecting expenditure data in 1917, and first-published its Consumer Price Index in 1921. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was first-published in 1896, and was only made up of 12 companies over its first decades: now this number is 30. In 1920 the Dow Jones was at around the same level as where it ended up at the low-point of the Great Depression in 1932-3: thus, if the spike that made it climb to its peak in 1929 was an artificial bubble that did not reflect an actually unchanged economy since 1920; then, the economy had remained flat, and it was merely the stock-manipulators who had lost what they had gained during the bubble. The next time the Dow reached at equivalent level to 1929’s peak was in around 1955. Thus, 1929 was not the point when most of the crash happened, but rather the point when an incredibly high peak seems to have been artificially manipulated. The first mention of the Dow Jones appears in this book on pages 120-1, and in rather empty conversations that speculate if it is going up or down, comparing this speculation to weather-prediction. Reporters had been logically anticipating a crash because of the very unlikely preceding steep climb in stocks. One of these pessimistic reports in the New York Times caused a 3%: the “Babson Break” named after the predictor. Bubbles inflate and deflate depending on such “predictions”, which can be manipulated deliberately to generate an artificial bubble, but this is not explained, as Babson is blamed as the cause, rather than as the sign of manipulation.
“But behind the flashing ticker tapes and panicked traders, another drama unfolded—one of visionaries and fraudsters, titans and dreamers, euphoria and ruin.” Fraud is only mentioned 7 times, and in none of these cases is there an explanation for how fraud led to the crash. One instance describes how a guy committed tax fraud, and sold shares to his wife fraudulently (270). And this extensively described case was eventually dismissed by a failure-to-convict (315). This is a very airy book with very little research or useful insights. “With unparalleled access to historical records and newly uncovered documents… A raging battle between Wall Street and Washington… Where markets soar, political tensions mount, and the fight over financial influence plays out once again… It’s about disregarded alarm bells, financiers who fell from grace, and skeptics who saw the crash coming—only to be dismissed until it was too late.”
This is a badly written book. I do not recommend for anybody to attempt reading it.
--Pennsylvania Literary Journal: https://anaphoraliterary.com/journals/plj/plj-excerpts/book-reviews-summer-2025/

On the face of it, 1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin gave me pause. Would it be too finance-y? Would there be concepts that make my head hurt? Would I just become even more worried about my 401k? Great news! No, no, and yes, but that's not his fault. Instead, you get a character driven tale of hubris, politics, and depression in both the literal and figurative sense.

I loved this book so much because Sorkin understands people and their relationships are what gets readers invested (you are dang right that pun was intended). The first issue with a book like this is that there are so many characters who need to be in it. Sorkin ingeniously tells the story chronologically with each chapter being a specific date while consistently starting the chapter with someone the reader is already familiar with. No one is wasted. Anyone you are introduced to in the first few chapters will come back later on and matter to the narrative. That way, Sorkin can ground the reader with a familiar face while explaining financial activities and perhaps adding a few more names to the book's Rolodex. The book even goes past 1929 which, admittedly, I thought was going to be a mistake. However, Sorkin quickly proves that the aftermath on his characters is just as important as the crash.

Sorkin, who wrote the acclaimed Too Big to Fail, also effortlessly immerses the reader in the financial shenanigans of the time period. I personally have a low tolerance for finance as a subject. However, the author gives you just enough to know what is going on without making you want to take a long nap. In fact, Sorkin makes sure to make the narrative mostly about the actions of his characters and the simple fact that no one knows exactly what the stock market will do. As is often said, show, don't tell.

Finally, I have a pet peeve of taking a historical event and forcing current events into it. Wonderfully, Sorkin never even hints at connecting 1929 to today. Don't get me wrong, he certainly provides plenty of information for the reader to make their own connections, but he never shoves it in the reader's face. This is about 1929 and its aftermath. He understood the assignment, and he nailed it.

(This book was provided as an advance reader copy by NetGalley and Viking Books.)

An in-depth analysis of the events of 1929 that led to the Great Depression. Mr Ross Sorkin does a great job of making the complicated narrative, with all its parts, easy to understand by creating a key list of characters in order to allow the reader to understand the sometimes complicated financial maneuvering. I enjoyed the read up until part 2 of the book, that is where i felt too much time was spent on the Mitchell trial and on the Morgan Senate hearings. the fast quick narrative style that was seen in the first section of the book seemed to languish a bit in the second part due to the play-by-play that was given. I learned a great many things and felt that I now have a better understanding of the market crash and its aftermath and effects. .

Great writer but I really could not get into this book Thanks for the opportunity to read but it was just not for me. Good Luck with the boo.