'The best account ever published of the economics, politics and adrenalin of these amazing firms. It shows why hedge funds dominate the world of finance and why the politicians who rail against them end up making them more powerful'

Anatole Kaletsky

'A warts-and-all history of hedge funds...a splendid account of the ups and downs of an industry in which few of the twenty-something hedge-fund wannabes know their history. They, and meddling politicians, should read this book before they are condemned to repeat it'

Financial Times

'An enormously satisfying book: a gripping chronicle of the cutting edge of the financial markets and a fascinating perspective on what was going on in these shadowy institutions as the crash hit'

Observer

'A superbly researched history of hedge-fund heroes stretching back to the 1950s, it is a fascinating tale of the contrarian and cerebral misfits who created successful, flexible businesses in an otherwise conventional financial world'

Economist