Customer Reviews
worth it - By: MrB, 28 Dec 2008 
I got the impression that Peston was urged to put out a book quickly, so he used a lot of his old archive material (Green, M & S etc). But it's worth it as there are some good chapters on hedge funds, & a reminder that our banks were actually borrowing to buy all that toxic waste, which somehow drove home the stupidity of it all.
Not as good as his scoops!
The Credit Crunch: who dunnit?: a good read - By: R. Parry, 27 Dec 2008 
To predict the future it is necessary to understand the past & Robert Peston's book is a valuable, well written & easy to read way to do this. It is the recent background to the business elite of a Britain that now faces an unprecedented financial mess
It gives colourful insight into the big personalities ( Philip Green, Stuart Rose, Allan Leighton ) the big financial organizations ( hedge funds private equity firms, & globalised investment banks) & the big politics which provide the backdrop to the dance of excess & greed that led us into the current melt down.
Much of the material is not new but it is very well told. It's a journalist's book rather than that of an historian. In truth it is really a number of different short books pulled together between one set of covers. It is a series of stand alone stories: Arcadia Group, Marks & Spencer's, Royal Mail, a who's who of hedge funds & private equity & the background to the sale of honours.
Peston has had a ringside seat for the past few years & this book allows us to share his privileged access. Most of the individual stories are fascinating, well written & related by a deeply well connected & knowledge insider. Although, to be honest, the chapter on pensions is rather hard going & only for real enthusiasts like Lord Turner who gets numerous mentions.
The title is a little misleading & echo perhaps of the seminal "Anatomy of Britain". by Anthony Sampson. "Credit Crunch: The Suspects" might have been a better alternative.
And finallyin one sense the book is a mystery story. Does Peston like Gordon Brown & the Labour party or not? He seems unsure himself but at least it keeps the reader guessing.
Allin all an adornment to any book shelf.
A clear explanation of why the financial crisis has happened - By: A. J. Sudworth, 23 Dec 2008 I liked this book a lot because it does not treat the reader like an idiot
What is also good is that he evidently has talked to the people involved & so it includes a huge amount of personal views from some of the main protagonists. His explanation of the greed of the finacial wizards, the wrong headed approach of the government & the effects on you & I is very clear - the only problem after reading this is that the depths of the problemsin the financial sector look a lot worse & its clear that we as individuals will pay for this collective failure.
I did not give it five stars because of a style issue is that certain things were repeated a number of times so that it read a bit like a collection of essays but overall if you want to understand why we have the problemsin the financial sector & now the real world economy then I can recommend this. Think of the plus when someone asks you what a Structured Investment Vehicle (SIV) is - & thanks to this you will know. You'll be bemused was to why it was ever thought a good idea, but you will know what it was & why valuing them became such a problem.
And finally it comprehensively shows the failings of the Prime Minister when he was chancellor - he may not have caused all the problems but the policies he pursued have made the problem worse for us all - & our grandchildren as well. Read this & I suspect that you will not see him as 'Super Gordon' after this.
Damm good read - making financial economics interesting !
Good, but too much detail - By: Sean Hayward, 05 Dec 2008 On the whole I have found this book to be an interesting insight into the working of the city & the type of people who make the decisions there. However, there are large protions of the book that go into too much detail, & even though I consider myself reasonably competent on the subject, i found the detail to be tedious & ended up skipping over paragraphs. The book is now also dated due to the fast moving events of the last year.
Who thinks they run Britain - By: bookhead, 30 Nov 2008 
Ths book does give comprehensive information on the UK financial world but even as an informed "layman", much of the finer detail was too dense to be understood! And it already appears dated.
In view of continuing unravelling of global finance subsequent to this book being published, the long studies of the retailers Stuart Rose & Philip Green, & other erstwhile luminaries of the City, verge on the emollient, using too much tediously self-congratulatory quoting from the subjects, & not enough rigorous analysis by the author.
I am not sure the intention of this was to be such an indictement of early 21st century greed,vanity & disconnection with reality
