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SHORTLISTED FOR THE BBC SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE 2010


They were masters of the financial universe, flying in private jets and raking in billions. They thought they were too big to fail. Yet they would bring the world to its knees.

Andrew Ross Sorkin, the news-breaking New York Times journalist, delivers the first true in-the-room account of the most powerful men and women at the eye of the financial storm - from reviled Lehman Brothers CEO Dick 'the gorilla' Fuld, to banking whiz Jamie Dimon, from bullish Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to AIG's Joseph Cassano, dubbed 'The Man Who Crashed the World'.

Through unprecedented access to the key players, Sorkin meticulously re-creates frantic phone calls, foul-mouthed rows and white-knuckle panic, as Wall Street fought to save itself. He has done a remarkable job in producing a lively account that will be hard for subsequent authors to beat * Gillian Tett, FT * As close to a definitive account as we are likely to get * Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times * Andrew Ross Sorkin has written a fascinating, scene-by-scene saga of the eyeless trying to march the clueless through Great Depression II * Tom Wolfe * Andrew Ross Sorkin pens what may be the definitive history of the banking crisis * The Atlantic Monthly * Sorkin has succeeded in writing the book of the crisis, with amazing levels of detail and access * Reuters * Too good to put down . . . It is the story of the actors in the most extraordinary financial spectacle in 80 years, and it is told brilliantly . . . It is hard to imagine them being this riveting * Economist * Sorkin can write. His storytelling makes Liar's Poker look like a children's book * SNL Financial * The most readable and exciting report of the events surrounding the Lehman collapse that we have seen . . . impeccably sourced * Edmund Conway, Daily Telegraph * The sense of being in the meeting rooms as hitherto all-conquering alpha male egos fight for their reputations, as their and our world judders, is palpable * Chris Blackhurst, Evening Standard * Surpassed its rivals with its depth, range of reporting and high quality analysis * Stefan Stern, FT * A superbly researched and sobering take on the events surrounding the meltdown on Wall Street * Sam Mendes * With Too Big to Fail , Andrew Ross Sorkin has broken the Barbarians [At The Gate] curse ... Ross Sorkin's ... astonishing narrative of the epic financial crisis of 2008 is an extraordinary achievement that will be hard to surpass as the definitive account * John Gapper, FT * The heir to Barbarians at the Gate * FT *

Too Big to Fail: Inside the Battle to Save Wall Street