It Was a Very Good Year: Extraordinary Moments in Stock Market History

by Martin S. Fridson

What, if anything, do the most spectacular, high-performance periods of the twentieth-century stock market have in common? And most importantly: Can we predict when they will occur again?
In this fascinating investigation, acclaimed author and financial authority Martin S. Fridson probes the past, leading an exhilarating tour through each of the twentieth-century stock market's golden years. Illuminating, entertaining, and rich in historical anecdotes, Fridson's book treats us to the opinions and investment strategies of some of the most prominent and intriguing figures on the scene.
"Timely, informative, and highly readable . . . It Was a Very Good Year offers wonderful insights into the years that provided spectacular gains in the past. There are important lessons in this book for all investors."-Henry Kaufman, President, Henry Kaufman & Company, Inc.
"A useful and extremely entertaining book. It's loaded with fascinating stock market lore and helpful investment approaches. I learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed myself along the way."-Byron R. Wien, Managing Director, Investment Strategist for U.S. Equities, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
"Financial history with a purpose-it is a Very Good Book."-James Grant, Editor, Grant's Interest Rate Observer
"With this book, Marty Fridson joins the ranks of the must-read economic and financial historians. He is that rare combination of scholar, wit, raconteur, and man with an eye on the bottom line. Read it for amusement, education, or profit. You can't lose."-Ben Stein, writer, law professor at Pepperdine University and host of Win Ben Stein's Money

Genres: Economics

280 pages, Paperback

First published December 22, 1997

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave up on this book after trying to read it twice. I ended up reading only the first year (1908), last year (1995) and epilogue.

The book sounds great in theory. The challenge for the reader is it doesn’t tie the facts into an interesting narrative. This book should have been in my wheelhouse. I was a history major and am also interested in the financial markets. Alas, it’s chunks of facts the author doesn’t write interestingly about.

I do wish I read it when it came out in the late 90’s. It’s conclusion that government injected liquidity is good for the markets has been proven accurate in the last 25 years.

[Amé Morency · Rating 4 out of 5]

The level of research of this book is impressive. I found it quite interesting, particularly the random facts about X person or event. This book is a great intersection between a historical and a stock market book.

The only reason I gave 4 stars was that I found it a little long at times, finding myself skipping some sections.

[Amit Rupani]

jim o shaugh

[Darius · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is about the ten best stock market years of the 20th century. I didn't expect any miraculous set of pointers on identifying a great stock market year. However, one expects a historian to do more merely than report discrete facts. One would expect a set of common threads running through the descriptions of these ten years, explaining their similarities and differences. Instead, what one sees is like brief snippets of market-related events in each of the years (and some unrelated events too), with no coherent narrative.

I admit I couldn't bring myself to read it all. I stopped and skipped to the last Epilogue that tries to sum things up (too late). That was brief and unsatisfactory.

Not a book I'd recommend to any audience for any purpose.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Financial History of the USA.

[Harsh Thaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Depressed prices + easing credit = it was a very good year