Why this book:  1929 was selected by my SEAL Book club for our June 2026 session.

Summary in 3 Sentences: Sorkin is the well known author of the best seller Too Big to Fail about the 2008 recession and market hiccup, and he used that approach to describe what led to the 1929 market crash that led to the great depression.  He introduces us to the financial and political leaders of the time, their characters, their strong beliefs and disagreements and the controversial decisions that over time led to the great crash of 1929.

My Impressions: I enjoyed this book which is written for the lay person, but not being terribly literate in banking and financial matters, I didn’t understand all of the banking and finance issues that were brought up. But that didn’t really detract from my interest in and enjoyment of the story. He writes historical narrative well, for the lay reader as well as the specialist. What most intersted me were theprovise of the key leaders in Wall Street and America who, together and unwittingly, made decisions that cumulatively led to the crash of the market. Some of these leaders included Mitchell, Morgan

Also, as I read the book, so much of what was happening sounded like an echo of what I hear in the news every night – about the market hitting new highs almost daily, and investment money flowing in. Reading the book was eerily similar to what I was hearing on the news every day about the markets

What most interested me were the profiles of the key leaders in Wall Street and America during the Roaring Twenties that led to crash: Charles Mitchell, known as “Sunshine Charlie” for his always optimistic view; Thomas Lamont, senior partner in JP Morgan; Carter Glass, US Senator and longtime unsuccessful advocate for banking reforem; President Herbert Hoover who inherited the momentum of the Roaring Twenties; John Raskob, a business titan of that era; Jesse Livermore, a legendary trader and speculator, and others.

Also it was interesting to note that in the Roaring Twenties was a period of signnificant technological transition for America, as automobiles became omni-present, travel by aircraft was commercialized and available to the wealthy, and the public was amazed at the new technology represented by the radio or “wireless,” which allowed people all over the country to hear music, public announcements, news and presidential speeches, and RCA was the leader in that technology. All that resonated with me and our world today, given the relatively recent development of the internet and the ubiquity of social media, online shopping, Spacex, AI, Spacex, Amazon, Meta. Then as now lots of new wealth being rapidly created and everyone wanted in on the skyrocketing profits. Relationship of national debt to GDP?

For me, the major takeaways and themes from the book include:

1. It was a slow-moving disaster, not a one-day event Sorkin frames the crash not as a sudden statistical anomaly, but as a deeply human tragedy fueled by greed, institutional hubris, and psychological denial.  While modern memory often condenses the crash into “Black Tuesday,” Sorkin emphasizes that the crisis was a prolonged, agonizing process. The collapse of the economy and the stock market didn’t happen overnight; rather, it was a slow-rolling catastrophe that unfolded over months and years, exposing structural vulnerabilities bit by bit.  

2. The Danger of Extreme Leverage as debt and subprime instruments triggered the 2008 financial crisis, the core driver of the 1929 bubble was excessive leverage. The “call money market” allowed everyday speculators, celebrities, and institutional players to purchase stocks on as little as 10% margin. This created an incredibly fragile house of cards where even minor downward fluctuations triggered massive, unstoppable margin calls.  

3. Legalized Manipulation and “Stock Pools” Sorkin details how prominent Wall Street insiders, such as William Crapo Durant, exploited the lack of market regulations through “stock pools.”Wealthy investors would quietly band together to buy up shares in a specific company.  They would artificially inflate the price by trading shares back and forth amongst themselves. After leaking bullish “tips” to the press to entice ordinary retail investors to buy in, the insiders would dump their shares at the peak—leaving the public with worthless investments. 

4. Institutional Hubris and Blind Optimism. A major focus of the book is the psychological denial of elite financiers, including Charles Mitchell (Chairman of National City Bank) and Thomas Lamont (of the House of Morgan). Sorkin shows how these titans had too much financial and reputational capital at stake to ever publicly acknowledge a downturn. They couldn’t accept that they could be wrong. and ignored flashing red lights, dismissed skeptics, and attempted to use their own capital to prop up the market—firmly believing that the “Roaring Twenties” boom could be sustained indefinitely.  

5. The Dismissal of Skeptics. Sorkin highlights the lonely position of those who saw the crash coming. Figures like legendary speculator Jesse Livermore warned that stock prices were ridiculously overextended. Instead of being heeded, they were dismissed as unpatriotic or fear-mongering doomsayers until the reality of the crash proved them right.  

Conclusion: Sorkin makes the point subtly throughout the book and more directly toward the end, and one hears it in the interviews with him on youtube about his book, that he’s seeing many parallels today with what led up to the crash of 1929. And these days, just like back then, people are making so much money they chose to, want to believe that this time will be different. In our discussion afterward, I and others in our group who have shared our concerns with our financial advisors, heard in response that these advisors are also nervous about the “irrational exuberance” they’re seeing. They expect a “correction” and are watching many of the indicators of trouble to come (inflation rate, constantly rising national debt) but all say that now is not the time to get out of the market. There is fear and apprehension, but the exuberance, and the unprecedented profits continue.