In August 1914, as Europe went to war, The New York Stock Exchange was closed. Investors assumed this was done to avert a crash, but it wasn't. The order came from Washington, where the US Treasury Secretary had his own reasons—reasons that would keep the exchange shuttered for four and a half months. This gripping, meticulously-researched history takes you back to a time when America was on the gold standard and money traveled as fast as steamers could haul the precious metal across the Atlantic. Highly recommended ...