Hugely informative yet enjoyable

Tooze has become quite the influential/popular figure, and one can tell why from this book. He covers a huge amount of ground in this volume, discussing not only the sub-prime mortgage crisis of 2008, but also the following sovereign debt crisis in Europe, the east European political crisis between the EU and Russia regarding Ukraine, the political upheavals in the US, etc. Despite covering so much ground, he does not just brush over these issues, but goes into great depth on them, also illuminating links between these seemingly distinct events. This focus on connectedness is what makes me prefer his account to the others I have read so far. The crucial thing to understand about the crisis is that it was not an isolated event in one country, but that it had international origins and consequences. Granted, there are some parts missing in the story, such as Japan, but I don’t think one can seriously fault him for such an omission given the scope of the analysis that one gets. The rest of the story will have to wait for another volume.

What is lovely about Tooze is his style. He manages to pack a ton of information into his prose without making it into a history textbook. It is written in an engaging way, which really makes him stand out from the crowd I find.

A caveat is that his perspective permeates the book. Do not expect an uninterested, unopinionated observer. Tooze has a left-Keynesian perspective and that can be felt throughout the book. I don’t mind it myself, and I find it makes the tone more lively, but it should be mentioned.

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Insightful Analysis

loved the book, puts in context the experience I had of the European crisis while I was living in Germany. I will be listening this book again.

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Great book, must read

Great book, must read or hear. it goes into great detail, though the author structured it extremely well, so that one never loses the connection. very pleasant narrator as well.