Flash Crash

’Not just a readable, pacey account of an extraordinary individual and his quixotic quest … but also a troubling exposé of the fragility of our entire financial system … I loved it’
Oliver Bullough, author of Moneyland

For fans of Bad Blood and The Big Short, the story of how one reclusive trading prodigy manipulated Wall Street and amassed millions from his childhood bedroom – then short-circuited the global market.

A real-life financial thriller, Flash Crash gives panoramic insight into our economic landscape – its weaknesses, its crooks and its exploitable loopholes – and uncovers the remarkable, behind-the-scenes narrative of a mystifying market crash, a globe-spanning investigation into international fraud, and the man – Navinder Singh Sarao – at the centre of it all.

Depending on whom you ask, Sarao was a scourge, a symbol of a financial system run horribly amok, or a folk hero: an outsider who took on the tyranny of Wall Street and the high-frequency traders.

Reviews

Longlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award 2020

‘The U.K.'s pre-eminent chronicler of financial crime’ New Yorker

‘This is not just a readable, pacey account of an extraordinary individual … but also a troubling exposé of the fragility of our entire financial system … I loved it’
Oliver Bullough, author of Moneyland

‘The definitive account of one of the most mysterious events in the recent history of financial markets …Tells the irresistible personal tale of the unlikely character—finance whiz, social misfit, brazen cheater, folk hero, fraud victim—who finds himself at the centre of a vast global scandal’
David Enrich

‘A fascinating journey through the heart of the financial markets and the battle between man and machine’
Bradley Hope

‘An elegant and fast-paced narrative … Through meticulous reporting and a gripping story, Vaughan has filled in many of the missing pieces. You won’t be able to put it down.’
William D. Cohan

‘A cautionary tale of the fragilities baked into the financial system … An engaging history lesson on the evolution of modern trading … And it is a pacy account that swings from humour to horror of a vulnerable man who is out of his depth … Compelling’
Financial Times

‘An extremely well-researched and clearly written book’
Spectator

‘Extraordinary … vivid detail … The real bandits are still out there, cloaked in political cover and respectability yet rigging the markets at scale’
Wall Street Journal

‘So compelling … He brings out the moral subtleties. It isn’t a simple story of good versus evil … Tells the story beautifully’
Daily Mail, Book of the Week

‘A magnificently detailed yet pacy narrative. Think Trading Places meets Wall Street … Vaughan achieves something even more remarkable. He makes you sympathise … Meticulous reporting’
Sunday Times

About the author

Liam Vaughan is an award-winning investigative journalist and author with Bloomberg and Businessweek magazine.