1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin - Episode 1
A gripping account of the rollercoaster events and powerful figures at the centre of the 1929 Wall Street crash. The long boom of the 1920s finally threatens to break.
In October 1929, the world watched in shock as the US stock market went into freefall, wiping out major fortunes and small-town savings, and igniting a depression that would re-shape a generation.
Best-selling author and journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin charts the inside story of the greatest financial crash in history, as the rollercoaster that gripped Wall Street in that year of chaos accelerated. Through dizzying highs and brutal lows, he follows the players at the heart of America鈥檚 financial markets - the bankers, investors, traders and speculators who disregarded increasingly loud alarm bells as they risked everything to save themselves and the institutions that had brought them wealth, fame and power.
This is a story about money, but it鈥檚 also about power, influence and illusion. In this account of the most pivotal market collapse of all time, Sorkin offers an electrifying insight into the cycles of speculation, the forces that drive financial upheavals and the warning signs that precede them. The lessons are as urgent as ever.
Andrew Ross Sorkin is the author of Too Big to Fail, about the 2008 financial crisis. He is a long-time journalist at The New York Times and the co-creator of the television drama Billions.
Reader: Demetri Goritsas
Abridger: Libby Spurrier
Sound engineer: Matt Bainbridge
Programme Co-ordinators: Nina Semple, Henry Tydeman, Dawn Williams
Producer: Sara Davies
Executive Producer: Peter Hoare
A Pier production for 蜜芽传媒 Radio 4
