15 Best Banking Books

Liaquat Ahamed examines the central bankers whose decisions helped shape the Great Depression. Following their attempts to restore financial stability after the First World War, he explores how monetary policies and international tensions contributed to economic disaster.

Andrew Ross Sorkin reconstructs the 2008 financial crisis through the people at its center. His account follows Wall Street executives and Washington officials as they make urgent decisions with the global economy at stake.

A panoramic history of the J. P. Morgan banking empire, tracing four generations of partners on both sides of the Atlantic. Chernow shows how the House of Morgan shaped corporate America, financed wars and recoveries, and adapted to regulation and market upheavals through the 1987 crash.

Roger Lowenstein recounts the political and financial struggle to establish the Federal Reserve. He follows bankers, legislators, and Woodrow Wilson through competing visions for reform, connecting recurring banking crises with the negotiations behind America's central bank.

This book follows a handful of outsiders who realized the subprime mortgage market was doomed, used credit default swaps to bet against it, and watched as the 2008 financial crisis exposed how fragile and reckless Wall Street had become.

Charles Calomiris and Stephen Haber argue that banking stability and access to credit emerge from political bargains. Comparing the histories of Britain, the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil, they examine how coalitions shape regulation, lending, and responsibility for financial losses.

Duff McDonald traces Jamie Dimon’s rise through finance and his leadership of JPMorgan Chase during the 2008 financial crisis. Interviews with Dimon, colleagues, friends, and family inform a portrait of his decisions, management style, and the institution he helped shape.

Martin Mayer investigates the collapse of the American savings and loan industry. The account examines the actions of thrift operators, accountants, lawyers, and regulators, tracing failures and dishonesty that produced enormous losses and left taxpayers confronting the cost.

Part memoir, part exposé, this book describes Lewis’s years as a young bond salesman at Salomon Brothers, capturing the swagger, fear, and excess of 1980s Wall Street and the birth of the mortgage-backed securities boom.

Alan S. Blinder reconstructs the financial crisis that began in 2007 and the government's response. He examines the breakdown of an increasingly complex financial system, emergency interventions, and the policy choices needed after the collapse.

Robert Sobel examines major financial panics in American history, exploring their political, economic, and psychological causes. His accounts of investors, bankers, and public reactions show how different circumstances can produce crises and complicate attempts to find a universal explanation.

Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig examine how banks are financed and how their risks affect the wider economy. They challenge arguments against stronger capital requirements and set out proposals for changing banking regulation and incentives.

Mervyn King examines the relationship between money, banking, and economic instability, drawing on his experience leading the Bank of England. He discusses uncertainty, the financial crisis, and proposals for a more resilient financial system.

Jonathan McMillan examines how the digital revolution changed banking and contributed to financial instability. The authors argue that incremental regulation is insufficient and outline an alternative financial system that separates money from credit and moves beyond conventional banking structures.

Phillip Zweig traces Walter Wriston’s career and his transformation of Citibank into a global financial institution. The biography examines innovations in consumer banking, credit cards, and deregulation alongside controversial international lending and the risks that accompanied the bank’s expansion.