I've been on a financial services reading kick lately and I've just finished reading Emily Lambert's The Futures: The Rise of the Speculator and the Origins of the World's Biggest Markets. It's a quick and enjoyable read that gives a good history of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Chicago's financial history. Starting with commodities and futures trading in the 19th Century, Lambert goes into the personalities, the politics and market structure that have created one of the largest financial markets. Her style reminds me a bit of Michael Lewis. If I have one complaint, it's that she does a good job covering the history up to the late 1970s but once the crash of 1987 occurs, she gallops through the next two decades extremely fast. Aside from that, this is a good book for anyone looking to get a grounding in the futures industry.
