Wall Street Under Oath:

The Story of Our Modern Money-Changers

by Ferdinand Pecora 

First edition.  London:  The Cresset Press, 1939 

Hardback is overall in VERY GOOD condition.

• Tan cloth covers have brown spine label with gilt title. 
• Boards show some wear, smudges, dings, scratches, wear at shoulders, edgewear.  Corners are bumped and frayed.  See photos. 
• Spine has gilt text on brown label and is darkened, with crushed ends.  See photos.
• Binding is secure. 
• Pastedowns and feps have some scribbles, esp. at back.  Owner's name on half-title page.  See photos. 
• Interior is gently age-toned, with marginal toning, a few page corners creased; traces of red pencil on page 190.  See photos. 
• Text block edges have a few marks. 
• PS2023.1101

312 pages. 5 1/8 x 7 3/4 inches

"For 16 months in the depths of the Great Depression, Ferdinand Pecora (1882-1971), a former New York prosecutor turned Senate inquisitor, captivated the country.  He chronicled how, in the run up to the 1929 crash, Wall Street's elite financiers manipulated stocks, dodged taxes and collected enormous bonuses for peddling shoddy securities to unsuspecting Americans."  As Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Ron Chernow describes it, "Pecora was the perfect foil to the posh bankers who paraded before the microphones…  When he was hired for $255 per month by the Senate committee, Pecora was earning less money than most Wall Street mandarins disbursed weekly in pocket change.  Pecora was meticulous in preparation and legendary in stamina, mastering reams of material and staying up half the night before interrogations…  The hearings started in a modest committee room, but as the public was swept up in the drama, they shifted to a stately caucus room, illuminated by chandeliers and flashbulbs.  As it gained momentum, the inquiry expanded until it shined a searchlight into every murky corner of Wall Street.  Pecora exposed a stock market manipulated by speculators to the detriment of small investors who could suddenly attach names and faces to their losses."

This is a First Edition copy of Pecora's timeless account of the the 1930s Senate inquiry into Wall Street and the Crash, which uncovered many corrupt and abusive practices and led to the Glass-Steagall Banking Act, the Securities Act of 1933, and the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Unusual London printing, First Edition of 1939, the same year as the first New York edition.  

AS IS! Please see photos. More photos available upon request.

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