Two Depression-era histories, two books by serving corporate bosses, a blow-by-blow assessment of the US authorities' reaction to the financial crisis, and a manifesto for a new economic theory. The shortlist for the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award looks eclectic. But the six books together sum up what went wrong in the crisis and may provide a route map away from the error-strewn past.

The judges gathered earlier this week at Goldman's New York headquarters to identify six finalists from a longlist of 15. Lionel Barber, editor of the FT, called the list "outstanding" and Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman's chief executive - echoing the mission of the award - said all the books were "both compelling and enjoyable".

The judges were united in praise for the quality of the shortlist. That is not a surprise in a year in which some of the world's best academics, journalists and management and business writers, applied their expertise to the roots and consequences of the global credit crunch. What is more surprising is that three of the shortlisted authors were moonlighting from their day jobs: Nandan Nilekani, who wrote Imagining India and is also co-chairman of Infosys, the technology group; Liaquat Ahamed, a director, adviser and investment manager, whose Lords of Finance is one of the two histories on the list; and Stephen Green, chairman of HSBC, the bank.