Before reading The Panic of 1907, the year 1907 seemed like a long time ago and a different world. The authors, however, bring this story alive in a fast-moving book, and the reader sees how events of that time are very relevant for today's financial world. In spite of all of our advances, including a stronger monetary system and modern tools for managing risk, Bruner and Carr help us understand that we are not immune to a future crisis.

-Dwight B. Crane, Baker Foundation Professor, Harvard Business School

Bruner and Carr provide a thorough, masterly, and highly readable account of the 1907 crisis and its management by the great private banker J. P. Morgan. Congress heeded the lessons of 1907, launching the Federal Reserve System in 1913 to prevent banking panics and foster financial stability. We still have financial problems. But because of 1907 and Morgan, a century later we have a respected central bank as well as greater confidence in our money and our banks than our great-grandparents had in theirs.

-Richard Sylla, Henry Kaufman Professor of the History of Financial Institutions and Markets, and Professor of Economics, Stern School of Business, New York University

A fascinating portrayal of the events and personalities of the crisis and panic of 1907. Lessons learned and parallels to the present have great relevance. Crises and panics are as much a part of our future as our past.

-John Strangfeld, Vice Chairman, Prudential Financial

Who would have thought that a hundred years after the Panic of 1907 so much remained to be written about it? Bruner and Carr break significant new ground because they are willing to do the heavy lifting of combingthrough massive archival material to identify and weave together important facts. Their book will be of interest not only to banking theorists and financial historians, but also to business school and economics students, for its rare ability to teach so clearly why and how a panic unfolds.

-Charles Calomiris, Henry Kaufman Professor of Financial Institutions, Columbia University, Graduate School of Business

"Though business professors Bruner and Carr approach their subject, the spectacular financial crisis that gave America the FDIC and the Federal Reserve, with grave pedantry, they devote the majority of the book to the more colorful events and personalities of the crisis, which even academic prose cannot dull. The chronicle follows one speculator's attempt to corner the copper market, which leads to panic, the failure of banks and trusts and the impending bankruptcy of New York City. In the midst of chaos, one man was able to halt the domino effect with calm, character and capital: J. Pierpont Morgan. The Panic, the authors note, hit America at a moment eerily similar to our own: coming off 50 years of postwar economic expansion with a Republican 'moralist' in the White House, an increasingly interventionist government, the formation of enormous new corporate conglomerates and a muckraking news media fueling resentment. Further, in a didactic final chapter, 'Financial Crises as a Perfect Storm,' the authors list the seven forces that, once converged, trigger alarm in investors, among them 'buoyant growth,' 'inadequate safety buffers,' 'adverse leadership' and 'undue fear, greed, and other aberrations'; that many (if not all) of these conditions are already met by today's market gives this authoritative history a relevance and vitality that should make business types sit up and take notice." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Bruner and Carr (business administration and corporate innovation programs, U. of Virginia) trace the financial panic of 1907, drawing on this story and research about financial crises to provide an alternative view of why market crashes and panics occur. They suggest that the following factors are crucial: system-like architecture, buoyant growth, inadequate safety buffers, adverse leadership, real economic shock, undue fear, greed, and other behavioral aberrations, and failure of collective actions. They consider these factors in terms of the 1907 panic, which was prompted by the San Francisco earthquake and the failure of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, causing a recession and other effects. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

The Panic of 1907 takes a historical look at what is considered the  third worst market crash in history and defines how it relates to the financial markets in 2007, exactly 100 years later. In a detailed and well-written narrative, authors Bruner and Carr take the reader through the story of the crash, beginning with the dramatic story of Charles T. Barney's death (Barney was the deposed president of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, one of the first financial institutions to collapse, who killed himself) and ending with the establishment of the Federal Reserve System  (due to calls for government reform). The final chapter details lessons to be learned from the crash, including what the  authors call  a potent formula for disaster;   information asymmetry; absence  of slack; cognitive biases; overreaching; shock occurs; and, an inadequacy of response.

An inside look at the financial crisis of 1907– what happened, why it mattered, and what we’ ve learned

The Panic of 1907 tells the dramatic story of one of the worst financial panics in modern history, drawing fascinating parallels to market conditions today. Through a detailed and engaging narrative, the authors lead readers day by day through the most critical events of the panic. Beginning with the dramatic suicide of Charles T. Barney, the deposed president of the Knickerbocker Trust Company– the first major financial institution to collapse– and ending with the establishment of the Federal Reserve System, the story highlights the leadership role of the larger-than-life financier J. Pierpont Morgan. With this book as their guide, readers will take away important insights from the panic of 1907, developing a deeper understanding of financial markets and the factors that affect them.

Robert F. Bruner (Charlottesville, VA) is the Dean of the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration and Charles C. Abbott Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia. He is also the author of several books, including Applied Mergers and Acquisitions (0-471-39506-4) and Deals from Hell (0-471-39595-1). Sean D. Carr (Charlottesville, VA) is the Director of Corporate Innovation Programs at the Batten Institute, University of Virginia.