International economist and economic historian of the late 20th century, Charles Kindleberger was an astute observer of the world around him and a master prose stylist. His most influential works made the case for irrationality in capital markets and the need for a lender of last resort to minimize the damage from bubbles and mania. His work was narrative rather than abstract, but no less convincing for that. His most famous book is Manias, Panics and Crashes.