Includes bibliographical references (p. 247-255) and index.

Part one: the Ponderosa boys -- A long, hot summer -- The beginning -- The captain -- The "take-under" -- Slamex -- The phoenix rises -- Independence day -- The stiletto -- The Ides of March -- Eulogies -- Part two: the echo chamber -- Russian winter -- Lehman's desperate houswives -- The young lions -- 9/11 -- No ordinary Joe -- The talking head -- The sacrificial ram -- Korea's rising sum -- The wart on the end of Lehman's nose -- Damned flood? -- Closing the books -- Epilogue.

Ward takes you inside Lehman's highly charged offices where you'll meet beloved leaders who were erased from the corporate history books, but who could have taken the firm in a very different direction had they not fallen victim to infighting and their own weaknesses.