A lively, original, and challenging history of stock market speculation from the 17th century to present day. Is your investment in that new Internet stock a sign of stock market savvy or an act of peculiarly American speculative folly? How has the psychology of investing changed—and not changed—over the last five hundred years? In Devil Take the Hindmost, Edward Chancellor traces the origins of the speculative spirit back to ancient Rome and chronicles its revival in the modern world: from the tulip scandal of 1630s Holland, to “stockjobbing” in London's Exchange Alley, to the infamous South Sea Bubble of 1720, which prompted Sir Isaac Newton to comment, “I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people.” Here are brokers underwriting risks that included highway robbery and the “assurance of female chastity”; credit notes and lottery tickets circulating as money; wise and unwise investors from Alexander Pope and Benjamin Disraeli to Ivan Boesky and Hillary Rodham Clinton. From the Gilded Age to the Roaring Twenties, from the nineteenth century railway mania to the crash of 1929, from junk bonds and the Japanese bubble economy to the day-traders of the Information Era, Devil Take the Hindmost tells a fascinating story of human dreams and folly through the ages.

A lively, original, and challenging history of stock market speculation from the 17th century to present day. Is your investment in that new Internet stock a sign of stock market savvy or an act of peculiarly American speculative folly? How has the psychology of investing changed—and not changed—over the last five hundred years? In Devil Take the Hindmost, Edward Chancellor traces the origins of the speculative spirit back to ancient Rome and chronicles its revival in the modern world: from the tulip scandal of 1630s Holland, to “stockjobbing” in London's Exchange Alley, to the infamous South Sea Bubble of 1720, which prompted Sir Isaac Newton to comment, “I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people.” Here are brokers underwriting risks that included highway robbery and the “assurance of female chastity”; credit notes and lottery tickets circulating as money; wise and unwise investors from Alexander Pope and Benjamin Disraeli to Ivan Boesky and Hillary Rodham Clinton. From the Gilded Age to the Roaring Twenties, from the nineteenth century railway mania to the crash of 1929, from junk bonds and the Japanese bubble economy to the day-traders of the Information Era, Devil Take the Hindmost tells a fascinating story of human dreams and folly through the ages.

A lively and original history of stock market speculation from the 17th cent. to 1998. Traces the origins of the speculative spirit back to ancient Rome and chronicles its revival in the modern world: from the tulip scandal of 1630s Holland, to "stockjobbing" in London's Exchange Alley, to the infamous South Sea Bubble of 1720. Here are brokers underwriting risks such as highway robbery; lottery tickets circulating as money; wise and unwise investors such as Benjamin Disraeli and Ivan Boesky. From the Gilded Age to the Roaring 20s, from the 19th-cent. railway mania to the crash of 1929, and through to Day Traders, this book tells a fascinating story of human dreams and folly through the ages.

The uncompromising work of electric guitarist Allan Holdsworth is revered by some of the most accomplished musicians in rock, jazz, fusion and metal, including such ground-breaking artists as Steve Vai, John McLaughlin, Eddie Van Halen, Alex Lifeson, Frank Zappa, Joe Satriani, and countless others. Starting off his career with bands such as The Tony Williams New Lifetime, Bruford, U.K., and Soft Machine, in the early 1980s Holdsworth began releasing music under his own name, with bands comprised of some of the most creatively virtuosic players in rock and jazz. Aside from developing one of the most unique and recognizable styles in electric guitar, Holdsworth also pioneered the role of guitar synthesis in jazz composition and improvisation, and his work in the medium eventually gained the complexity and cinematic flavor of orchestral music (although achieved through electronic textures). This book (originally published in blog form as "A Thread of Lunacy: Appreciation and Analysis of the Otherworldly Music of Allan Holdsworth") traces the development of Holdsworth's musical works from 1969 to 2017 by examining more than 60 records which he led or recorded on. In addition to detailed musical explorations of these records, hundreds of published and unpublished interview fragments from print and online sources have been organized (by album) in order to give an idea of the circumstances behind each record and each stage of Holdsworth's career. Although this book is a perfect reference for Allan Holdsworth fans, another aim of this book is to help new listeners enter the frequently misunderstood universe of this "ahead-of-his-time" guitar genius. A full explanation of Holdsworth's approach to music composition and improvisation is presented, designed to be appreciated and understood by both casual music fans and advanced players.

We live in an age of serial asset bubbles and spectacular busts. Economists, policymakers, central bankers and most people in the financial world have been blindsided by these busts, while investors have lost trillions. Economists argue that bubbles can only be spotted after they burst and that market moves are unpredictable. Yet Marathon Asset Management, a London-based investment firm managing over $50 billion of assets has developed a relatively simple method for identifying and potentially avoiding them: follow the money, or rather the trail of investment. Bubbles whether they affect a whole economy or merely a single industry, tend to attract a splurge of capital spending. Excessive investment drives down returns and leads inexorably to a bust. This was the case with both the technology bubble at the turn of the century and the US housing bubble which followed shortly after. More recently, vast sums have been invested in mining and energy. From an investor's perspective, the trick is to avoid investing in sectors, or markets, where investment spending is unduly elevated and competition is fierce, and to put one's money to work where capital expenditure is depressed, competitive conditions are more favourable and, as a result, prospective investment returns are higher. This capital cycle strategy encourages investors to eschew the simple 'growth' and 'value' dichotomy and identify firms that can deliver superior returns either because capital has been taken out of an industry, or because the business has strong barriers to entry (what Warren Buffett refers to as a 'moat'). Some of Marathon's most successful investments have come from obscure, sometimes niche operations whose businesses are protected from the destructive forces of the capital cycle. Capital Returns is a comprehensive introduction to the theory and practical implementation of the capital cycle approach to investment. Edited and with an introduction by Edward Chancellor, the book brings together 60 of the most insightful reports written between 2002 and 2014 by Marathon portfolio managers. Capital Returns provides key insights into the capital cycle strategy, all supported with real life examples from global brewers to the semiconductor industry - showing how this approach can be usefully applied to different industry conditions and how, prior to 2008, it helped protect assets from financial catastrophe. This book will be a welcome reference for serious investors who looking to maximise portfolio returns over the long run.

Winner of the Dundee International Book Prize At £10,000, the Dundee International Book Prize is the richest prize for an unpubished novel in the UK. This year's winning title, Devil Take the Hindmost, is a gripping historical noir set during the amphetamine-fuelled craze for velodrome racing which took London by storm in the late 1920s. Into this world stumbles Paul, a bewildered Scottish farmboy running away from home. Powerfully built with a fierce passion for cycling, he is taken under the wing of Silas, a local loan shark, and from there enters a world he is ill-equipped to survive. As the races get harder, the bets get larger, and the terrifying Mr Morton starts to take an interest in Paul's career. For fans of Peaky Blinders and Brighton Rock, Devil Take the Hindmost is a thrilling ride through a historical London that is rarely visited. 'A Graham Greene-esque noir with suspense and peril. I loved the cut back and forth of the time line to create drama..." Denise Mina, author and judge, Dundee International Book Prize 'Intriguing, thrilling and brilliantly realised. A fantastic debut.' Danny Wallace, author, broadcaster and judge, Dundee International Book Prize 'Perhaps the first cycling noir I've ever read, Martin Cathcart's excellent debut, Devil Take the Hindmost, is filled with early twentieth century period detail and a slow-burn sense of menace that builds over the course of its twisting plot. But a good plot is nothing without character, and in the innocent abroad Paul and his new 'friend' Silas, we have one of the finest double acts I've read in a while. Devil Take the Hindmost is an assured first novel from an author who deserves to overtake the competition and race to take first place.' Russel D McLean, author of the J McNee detective series

On the death of France's most glorious king, Louis XIV, in 1715, few people benefited from the shift in power more than the intriguing financial genius from Edinburgh, John Law. Already notorious for killing a man in a duel and for acquiring a huge fortune from gambling, Law had proposed to the English monarch that a bank be established to issue paper money with the credit based on the value of land. But Queen Anne was not about to take advice from a gambler and felon. So, in exile in Paris, he convinced the bankrupt court of Louis XV of the value of his idea. Law soon engineered the revival of the French economy and found himself one of the most powerful men in Europe. In August 1717, he founded the Mississippi Company, and the Court granted him the right to trade in France's vast territory in America. The shareholders in his new trading company made such enormous profits that the term "millionaire" was coined to describe them. Paris was soon in a frenzy of speculation, conspiracies, and insatiable consumption. Before this first boom-and-bust cycle was complete, markets throughout Europe crashed, the mob began calling for Law's head, and his visionary ideas about what money could do were abandoned and forgotten. In Millionaire, Janet Gleeson lucidly reconstructs this epic drama where fortunes were made and lost, paupers grew rich, and lords fell into penury -- and a modern fiscal philosophy was born. Her enthralling tragicomic tale reveals two great characters: John Law, with his complex personality and inscrutable motives, and money itself, whose true nature even to this day remains elusive.