Every Man a Speculator
“Fascinating…. A richly detailed, comprehensive, and convincing account of Wall Street’s place in American cultural history…. A superb book.”
—The New Republic
“You can read this work of tremendous erudition straight through from the days when a Dutch wall marked the site where stock exchanging was already called the ‘air trade.’”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“Persuasive…. A thoroughly researched and compelling new book. Fraser shows how Wall Street has influenced American culture and values over the past two centuries.”
—Christian Science Monitor
“As a near-encyclopedia of American economic, social, and political history, Every Man a Speculator is a treasure trove of information…. Steve Fraser has emerged as a leading historian of American capitalism.”
—The American Prospect
“The tension between finance as the death knell for a nation of free citizens and as the only sure hope for progress remains at the center of reflection on American society, and Every Man a Speculator certainly provides an entertaining introduction to that debate.”
—New York Sun
“The history of public perceptions about Manhattan’s ‘Golden Toe’—and about speculation itself—as detailed in Steve Fraser’s Every Man a Speculator proves fascinating.”
—U.S. News & World Report
“Fraser tells a monumental story with real energy: moral disapproval of usury, gambling, and single-minded moneymaking fade as bankers come to embody the hope and threat of the future.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Fascinating…. The rapprochement between workers and the Street still seems to be in force…. Fraser’s useful book helps us understand these contradictions.”
—Los Angeles Times Book Review
“Fascinating…. Every Man’s ambitious breadth is matched by investigative depth…. It belongs on the shortlist of books that encompass and illuminate the entire trajectory of the American experience.”
—The Nation