This is what George Bernard Shaw might have called An Intelligent Person's Guide to the Crisis of Modern Capitalism, and everyone ought to read it Robert Harris, Sunday Times Original ... beautifully written ... both entertaining and profoundly anger-inducing Chris Blackhurst, Evening Standard The route map to the crazed world of contemporary finance we have all been waiting for. John Lanchester's superb book is everything its subject - the 2008 crash - was not: namely lucid, beautifully contrived, comprehensible to the reader with no specialist knowledge - and most of all devastatingly funny -- Will Self Wickedly funny ... Good humor and good company will be the things that'll get us through Dwight Garner, New York Times Endlessly witty, but the wit is underpinned by a tremendous, unembarrassed anger and moral lucidity. A superb guide which will turn any reader into an expert within the space of 200 pages. Jonathan Coe Explains the madness of modern capitalism with razor-sharp insight, brilliant clarity and a refreshing dose of humour. A great book. John O'Farrell Scarier than Thomas Harris Nicci French John Lanchester's newfound mission: to explain the world of finance to the general public ... The result is the perfect read for anyone still wondering what went wrong and why. Unless you'd rather they didn't know Bloomberg Literary and profound ... a master explainer with an excellent grasp of sophisticated finance Christopher Caldwell, The Daily Beast Acidic, frightening, and sharply funny ... a better book about the global meltdown than any other to date EW.com [A] sober message lurking among Lanchester's delightful wordplay, and it deserves attention by everyone who cares to understand where we are, how we got here and who is responsible John Lawrence Reynolds, Globe and Mail This is a piece of genius ... It tells a proper story, like a novel, and we're all part of it - which means it is *gripping*. Yes! Gripping! A book about money! I know! But it's true. It is necessary, particularly - but not exclusively - if you're somebody who thinks, 'Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Iceland, um, mortgages, er...' and doesn't want to keep thinking it until the end of time, amoeba-stylee. I humbly posit that it is a masterpiece India Knight Lanchester has turned that fascination - coupled with a kind of astonished anger - into a lucid, conversational account of the crisis designed for non-financial types and helpfully leavened with jokes, swearing and interesting asides Quentin Webb, Reuters An excellent book for anyone wondering what the hell is going on. Triple A, as the credit rating agencies might say Irish Times Or you could simply borrow the book from someone. If they've read it, even better - they won't be expecting you to return it The Telegraph