Books like Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street

01

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine

Michael Lewis · Economics

The Big Short is Michael Lewis's account of the 2008 financial crisis as seen through the eyes of a handful of contrarians who saw the collapse coming, bet against the American housing market, and were right.

Both dig into wall street.

02

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

Michael Lewis · Business

Moneyball is Michael Lewis's account of how Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics, used statistical analysis to compete against teams with payrolls three times larger.

A kindred business read.

03

The Intelligent Investor

Benjamin Graham · Economics

The Intelligent Investor is Benjamin Graham's case that successful investing has less to do with picking the right stocks than with managing your own behavior.

A kindred business read.

04

Liar's Poker

Michael Lewis · Business

Liar's Poker is Michael Lewis's account of his years as a bond salesman at Salomon Brothers in the 1980s, the decade when Wall Street stopped being a gentleman's club and became something closer to a casino.

A kindred business read.

05

Barbarians at the Gate

Bryan Burrough · Business

Barbarians at the Gate is Bryan Burrough and John Helyar's account of the 1988 leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco, at the time the largest corporate transaction in history.

Both dig into wall street.

06

Market Wizards

Jack D. Schwager · Business

Market Wizards is Jack Schwager's collection of interviews with some of the most successful traders of the 1970s and 1980s — Michael Marcus, Bruce Kovner, Richard Dennis, Paul Tudor Jones, and others who generated extraordinary returns over extended periods in futures, currencies, and equities.

Both dig into financial markets.

07

To Sell Is Human

Daniel H. Pink · Business

To Sell Is Human is Daniel Pink's case that selling — in the broad sense of moving people to think or act differently — is central to what most of us do at work every day, whether or not our job title includes the word "sales." Drawing on Bureau of Labor Statistics data, Pink estimates that Americans spend roughly 40% of their work time in non-sales selling: persuading, convincing, and nudging.

Both dig into human behavior.

08

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

Robert M. Sapolsky · Science

Behave is Robert Sapolsky's attempt to explain why humans do what they do — the violence, the altruism, the tribalism, the heroism — by working through every layer of biology that contributes to a single act.

Both dig into human behavior.

09

Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation

Edward Chancellor · History

Edward Chancellor's 1999 history of financial speculation begins with seventeenth-century Holland and ends with the Japanese bubble of the 1980s and early signs of the dot-com excess that would peak after the book's publication.

Both dig into human behavior.

10

The Alchemy of Finance

George Soros · Economics

The Alchemy of Finance is George Soros's attempt to explain both the theory behind his investment decisions and the practice of applying it during the years he ran the Quantum Fund.

Both dig into financial markets.

11

The Hour Between Dog and Wolf

John Coates · Science

The Hour Between Dog and Wolf is John Coates's argument that financial markets are driven partly by biology, and specifically by the hormonal systems — testosterone and cortisol in particular — that evolved to prepare the body for physical challenges and that now operate on traders making millisecond decisions.

Both dig into financial markets.

12

The Man Who Solved the Market

Gregory Zuckerman · Biography

The Man Who Solved the Market is Gregory Zuckerman's account of Jim Simons, the mathematician who founded Renaissance Technologies and built the most successful investment firm in history.

Both dig into financial markets.