ISBN0071385290

This book is very readable, and perhaps after you read it very common sense. However, there is so much financial porn in the marketplace that common sense is not very common.

The Pillars:

Theory (Modern Portfolio Theory)
History (Manias, etc.)
Psychology (The mistakes most investors make)
Business (Advisors, Fund Companies, etc.)

The bibliography can act as an advanced reading list, though simply reading this book will be adequate treatment of the topics for many readers.

Dr.Bernstein's writing style is easy to read and understand, it's well written and I could'nt put the book down after reading the first couple of pages...this book is all you need to know as far as I'am concerned, if you want the honest truth about investing the right way. I made huge mistakes in investing my hard earned cash prior to reading this book. Don't make the same stupid mistakes I did!...read this book first,before you pull the trigger(actually invest), so to speak...believe me, it's wiser to do so. I'am following and still to this day, refer back to this book's content, and there's not a day that goes by that I ever regret implementing the valuable lessons contained within.....Wall street's vast media is driven by "financial porn" and it's actually entertaining, in a humorous way, to see these so-called professionals act like they know which way the markets are headed. But like astrology, it's not worth taking seriously....Don't lose!, read this book.

I have read a ton of financial books and this has been one of my favorites. What's great about it is that it's not just "another" book that says all of the sames things ... in fact, it is very different from many books that you'll read on this topic. The author backs up everything he states with historical data and his reasoning for future projections. I'm not going to immediately change my portfolio based on this book, but the author did give me a lot to think about and referenced several other books that I am reading now.

Bernstein has endowed individual investors with the most important fundamentals of investing, weaving together the theory, history, psychology and business of investing into a gem of understandable language for mere mortals. I recommend this book often to my clients and encourage anyone who is serious about investing their money successfully to read this book before allocating a penny to any investment.

Book goes through the history of investing. It gets quite technical and at times very difficult to follow, only really in one chapter where he discusses what affects stock prices. And rereading it helps out. As the author suggests though, just read a little bit at a time. It's a lot of material to digest. But overall it discusses the advantages of using index funds and the need to diversify. I feel that the book speaks the truth regarding investing and everybody should at least be familiar with the concepts discussed in the book.