The Scam
by Debashis Basu
★ Top 5 book of 1993 · #2 on Best Books of 1993
This fast-paced nonfiction account chronicles two of India's biggest stock market scams, following the people involved in each. It also asks whether anything has been learned since, and the updated edition adds further scandals.
Best for: Readers interested in Indian financial history and how market scams unfold
The Scam is #2 on BookWard's Best Books of 1993, out of 36 1993 books that cleared our data bar.
What The Scam is about
Two of the most notorious scams in the Indian stock markets are laid out here in detail. Debashis Basu, writing with Sucheta Dalal, asks a direct question: what really happened in the Harshad Mehta and Ketan Parekh affairs? The 8th edition also looks at the JPC fiasco and the Global Trust Bank scam, weaving together the lives and times of the players involved. The book also asks whether anyone learned anything, and whether the same failures could happen again.
First published in April 1993, it became an immediate bestseller and has returned in a digital edition after a stretch out of print. It will help investors, students of finance, journalists, and any curious reader who wants to understand how speculation, greed, and weak oversight can combine to drain a market of trust.
The Scam on the Best Books of 1993
The Scam came out in 1993. Of the 36 books first published in 1993 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #2 on our Best Books of 1993 list.
Why it made the list: 436 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.9 out of 5 (15 ratings); 45 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
It earns Being read right now.
Nearby on the 1993 list
- The Giver Lois Lowry, #1
- Along Came a Spider James Patterson, #3
- A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth, #4
See all Best Books of 1993 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 1992 Best Books of 1994.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 383 want to read it, 45 are reading it now and 8 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.9 out of 5 from 15 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 89 | 55% |
| Reader love | 100 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 97 | 20% |
Questions about The Scam
When was The Scam published?
The Scam by Debashis Basu was first published in 1993.
Was The Scam one of the best books of 1993?
The Scam is #2 on BookWard's Best Books of 1993, out of 36 1993 books that cleared our data bar. 436 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.9 out of 5 (15 ratings); 45 are reading it right now.
Why is The Scam on the Best Books of 1993 list?
436 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.9 out of 5 (15 ratings); 45 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 1993
- The Giver Lois Lowry, #1
- Along Came a Spider James Patterson, #3
- A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth, #4
- Girl, Interrupted Susanna Kaysen, #5
- Understanding Comics Scott McCloud, #6
- Trainspotting Irvine Welsh, #7
See the full Best Books of 1993, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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