Books: Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation

Devil Take the Hindmost, by Edward Chancellor, belongs to one of my favorite genres of history - thematic history of one thing/idea over a constrained timeline and a (relatively) limited geographical area.  Here the idea is financial speculation and the (relatively) limited geographical area is primarily the United States and the United Kingdom.  After initial sections on Roman Republic stock trading and Holland and tulip mania, where other countries than the UK or the US are mentioned it is usually only in the context of financial tradings with those two or in brief but highly amusing asides. 

This book is full of absolutely delicious wack-jobbery.  I know a lot of people who find economic history dull, but I beg you to reconsider!  ( Economics: so very not boring )

[edited repeatedly because I keep finding typos]