Ivar Krueger, who he? That was my reaction to The Match King by Frank Partnoy, author of an entertaining book about the craziness of the financial markets, F.I.A.S.C.O. (I read the latter when it was first published in 1998, but publisher Profile has just reissued it.) The answer is the leading industrialist and financier of the 1920s, a combination of, oh I don't know, Bill Gates and Bernard Madoff. He  built an extraordinarily successful business empire (including matches and construction), parts of which survived the second world war and enriched the next generation of owners, and he financed national governments in competition with the great house of Morgan; and yet he also took enormous risks, played fast and loose with accountants and regulators and committed frauds. He held his empire together through financial ploys until, in March 1932, he committed suicide.

So one of the most gripping aspects of the book is that I had never heard of Krueger at all. True, he was Swedish, and so perhaps too easily overlooked by Anglo-Saxons. But an intriguing character. By all accounts he was extremely charismatic. Like his protegee and compatriot Greta Garbo (did I mention he financed movies too?), he preferred to be alone. He didn't marry, and worked always with a close-knit group of friends from his youth. Apart, that is, from the outsiders he hired for his dodgier dealings, keeping amazingly large and complex parts of his empire secret from his colleagues. He was innovative, a pioneer of off-balance sheet accounting, and devised financial instruments still with us today. Nobody else understood the complexity of his web of companies and investments.

The second interesting aspect of The Match King is in fact the parallels between the mania of the 1920s and that of the 2000s. In just the same way, investors and even smart investment bankers simply ignored facts which didn't fit their perception of reality. For years before Krueger's empire tumbled, on his suicide, it wouldn't have taken much know-how to understand that the business was not all it appeared. However, people continued to believe what they wanted to believe, confirmed in their views by Krueger's wealth and carefully-constructed public persona. Once again, we learn how much inner clarity of mind – or simply guts – it takes to announce the emperor's embarrassing nudity.

All in all, this is a terrific read. I skipped over some pages of excessive detail about particular financial transactions – I'm sure Frank Partnoy didn't want to let his 6 years of research go to waste but perhaps the next edition can move some of this to an appendix. That aside, a well-written and fascinating tale, perfect for a long flight or a different perspective on today's financial meltdown. If you haven't read F.I.A.S.C.O., that's good fun too.