A colossal failure of common sense : the inside story of the collapse of Lehman Brothers

I found this book to be one of the clearest expositions of how the financial crisis erupted, and the policies and practices in government and business that allowed it to erupt. While the author can be, at times, remarkably unaware of how remarkably self-centered he is, it is nevertheless true he knows what he's talking about and he tells the story vividly, even excitingly. In particular, thanks to his exposition, I finally understand just what a mortgage-backed security derivative is, and why they were so amazingly toxic to the financial system and the economy. He is also very good on the policy background that led to the crisis over the decades prior to the meltdown.