This economic and cultural history reveals how five significant stock market crashes in the past century define the modern United States. The Panic of 1907 1929: Black Tuesday 1987: Black Monday 2008: The Great Recession 2010: The Flash Crash Each of these financial implosions that caused a catastrophic drop in the American stock market is a remarkable story in its own right filled with drama, human foibles, and heroic rescues. Taken together they tell the larger story of a nation reaching enormous heights of financial power while experiencing precipitous dips that alter and reset a market where millions of Americans invest their savings, and on which they depend for their futures. Financial expert Scott Nations vividly shows how each of these major crashes played a role in America's political and cultural fabric, each providing painful lessons that have strengthened us and helped us to build the nation we know today. A History of the United States in Five Crashes clearly and compellingly illustrates the connections between these major financial collapses and examines the solid, clear-cut lessons they offer for preventing the next one. "Excellent. . . . A pleasure to read." —Wall Street Journal "Absorbing. . . . Nations's stylish writing gives these stories of greed and fear a cliffhanger momentum." —Financial Advisor Magazine "Timely. . . . An eye-opening examination of the many ways money can be made—and disappear." —Kirkus Reviews