Money Manias: The Eras of Great Speculation in America, 1770-1970

A recreation of the periods of great risk and speculation in American history, this original and fascinating book explores the giant Vandalia land venture that involved George Washington in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, the disastrous canal-building schemes that enticed investors during the 1880s, the giant steel company consolidations that were formed at the turn of the century, the ill-facted Florida land boom of the 1920s, and the recent conglomerate craze. Robert Sobel traces t…