Alasdair Nairn
1 Required reading for serious investors
Nairn has written an epoch work that is worthy reading for any serious student of the financial markets. Having recently passed thru an investment bubble of titanic proportions, Nairn's trip thru the history of other vaunted technological breakthroughs helps us realize that wise students of stock market history might have been able to both participate in the upside of the bubble while still having a chance, based on the historical precendents he so methodically outlines, of identifying when to get out and avoid the downside debacle that follows every such market insanity. This book should be required reading for every student in MBA programs and most especially for all those stock analysts churning out buy recommendations on speculative stocks in March 2000! Common investors should read it also so they can know how to identify those analysts who have failed to read it and gained the useful perspective the book offers.
2 Insightful history of investment and industrial development
I didn't know what to expect from this lengthy tome but found it to be a fascinating history of inventions and their impact on the investing world. The author discusses developments that we take for granted--computer, railroad--and explores how these advances changed society and business. This is terrific book for anyone interested in both investing and history.
