HOUSE OF CARDS

Perhaps the only thing more remarkable than the astonishing meltdown of the financial goliath Bear-Stearns in March of 2008 is that there is someone among us who seems to understand precisely how it all happened. That person is William D. Cohan, and he shares his knowledge in this incisive narrative of that economic cataclysm. Cohan's report clearly shows that there were signs of a demise before the first domino dropped, signs that were recognized and identified by scattered financial analysts around the globe, whose warnings were collectively ignored. As the financial foundation of the firm began to disintegrate, the CEO's struggled to maintain their cool façade, as underlings scrambled to contain and conceal the damage. By the time word spread to Washington, billions of dollars had literally evaporated into the ether--or had they? Cohan's concise explanation details every minute of the ten-day disaster, clarifying where the money went, who is to blame, and how the nation can begin to recover.