On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System

They Were All Caught Off Guard (2010-09-01) : 5/5
Very interesting first person account of the financial crisis that brought the world to the brink of disaster. I found this book to be a fascinating account and very fast read.
What's new? Nobody saw the crisis in its full dimensions coming and I think that is something the average American just doesn't understand. Paulson's account of the disasters that would not quit is amazing coming from a man that spent his adult life living and breathing the very system that was crumbling around him at a frenetic pace. I got a real sense of the extreme danger the entire system was in; basicly in danger of killing itself by its very nature. Thankfully Paulson and his able staff, although amazed at what was happening, understood that political ideology had to bend to the market need. Thankfully also, George W Bush stepped up to support his Treasury Secretary fully and with only minor reservations for politics. Recommended.
Boring (2010-08-18) : 3/5
Finance books are usually hard to write in a manner in which the average reader (aka one without a business degree) can easily follow the story and comprehend it. This book wasn't capable of doing this.

My short review of this book: boring and self-serving.
Why? (2010-08-15) : 1/5
Why would anybody by a book that this shmuck wrote? He is one of the worst Treasury Secretaries ever and is clueless now as he was when he was in office. Maybe Paulson should be reading and watching people like Ron Paul and Peter Schiff who were warning of this crisis, that way he can educate himself.
The definitive inside account of the fiscal meltdown (2010-08-02) : 5/5
If books about the 2008 financial collapse are starting to run together in your mind, rest assured that former Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr.'s memoir is unique. In the first account by a high-ranking government official, Paulson lets out some juicy details. He describes the dry heaves and insomnia he suffered throughout the crisis, his pithy banter with President George W. Bush and his irritation with the ever-perky Sarah Palin. Even so, readers get the sense from his carefully scrubbed copy that Paulson is holding back. Alas, you may have expected as much - loose lips don't help one become Treasury secretary or CEO of Goldman Sachs (his former job). Still, this memoir is enlightening for his personal perspective. getAbstract recommends it to taxpayers and policy makers seeking insight into the interactions of Washington and Wall Street.

Interesting (2010-07-30) : 4/5
I suspect your political perspective will play a large part in how you view this book. Hank Paulson was the former CEO of Goldman Sachs before becoming the Secretary of the Treasury. He held this office during one of the most catastrophic financial crises.

Solid financial institutions were on the verge of collapse. Jobs were lost, life savings were jeopardized. The effects were felt worldwide.

This is a detailed narrative of the events leading up to the crisis. It is only natural for Paulson to shine favorable light on his own role. If the reader was writing a book about events in their life, they too would see themselves in a positive perspective.

My major fault with this book is the writing. Paulson should have hired a ghost writer.