The plungers and the peacocks : an update of the classic history of the stock market /

Thomas ( The Money Crowd ) here updates his 1967 history of Wall Street to cover more recent developments: computerized stock trading, massive institutional investing, the 1987 crash, merger mania and proxy wars, leveraged buyouts, etc. Though awesome in numbers and import, this lacks the color, verve and human interest of the background material that shows how industry, banking and stock-market financing were interwined with America's social history of gaudy overnight millionaries and the outraged politicians who dogged them. With its tales of fortunes won and lost through market manipulation by the likes of Jay Gould, Bill Durant and Jesse Livermore, and with anecdotes of colorful characters like the mystical Claflin sisters, Victoria and Tennessee, who in the 1870s had their own brokerage house, this jaunty saga is enormously entertaining and informative. Photos. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

This update of a Wall Street history published in 1967 now covers the period from the Revolution to computers and the 1987 crash. When first published, the book received mixed reviews; LJ called it a ``highly fictionalized book replete with myth as well as with facts.'' Unfortunately, the author, a former Barron's writer, did not heed these criticisms or those of others. The book remains entertaining but still fails on some key points. However, public and academic libraries may find valuable its informative introduction to Wall Street history; the bibliography is also useful. Readers may wish to compare Thomas's book to Robert Sobel's Panic on Wall Street (Dutton, 1988), a history of financial crashes.-- Jeffrey R. Herold, Bucyrus P.L., Ohio (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.