A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For years, Taleb has studied how we fool ourselves into thinking we know more than we actually do. In this revelatory book, Taleb explains everything we know about what we don't know.   Elegant, startling, and universal in its applications, The Black Swan will change the way you look at the world. Taleb is a vastly entertaining writer, with wit, irreverence, and unusual stories to tell. . We eagerly romp with him through the follies of confirmation bias [and] narrative fallacy."--The Wall Street Journal   "Hugely enjoyable--compelling . . . easy to dip into."--Financial Times

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds is a work by Charles MacKay now brought to you in this new edition of the timeless classic.

The real story of the crash began in bizarre feeder markets where the sun doesn't shine and the SEC doesn't dare, or bother, to tread: the bond and real estate derivative markets where geeks invent impenetrable securities to profit from the misery of lower- and middle-class Americans who can't pay their debts. The smart people who understood what was or might be happening were paralyzed by hope and fear; in any case, they weren't talking. Michael Lewis creates a fresh, character-driven narrative brimming with indignation and dark humor, a fitting sequel to his #1 bestseller Liar's Poker. Out of a handful of unlikely-really unlikely-heroes, Lewis fashions a story as compelling and unusual as any of his earlier bestsellers, proving yet again that he is the finest and funniest chronicler of our time.

Flash Boys is about a small group of Wall Street guys who figure out that the U.S. stock market has been rigged for the benefit of insiders and that, post-financial crisis, the markets have become not more free but less, and more controlled by the big Wall Street banks.

"This is the best book on investments… it is written in a very engaging style and it has so many take-aways that any individual investor can use to great advantage…”

The best book on the Financial Crisis