The Last Partnerships: Inside the Great Wall Street Money Dynasties

I bought this book after I saw that Booklist named it one of the top ten business books of 2001. It divides each chapter into two parts, each dealing with two investment banking houses that were similar or closely related somehow.The result is excellent. The histories are clear, concise and full of color. Good anecdotes are put in boxes that complement the text. I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone interested in Wall Street.

This is a great piece of micro Wall Street history. The author looks at the financial district from street level, from the perspective of the Wall Street houses themselves.The stories range from good to fascinating and the asides in some chapters are great anecdotes. How the houses succeeded and why they ultimately dispapeared as partnerships is a great story and it is well told here. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in finance and history.