The collapse of Bear Stearns took place with lightning speed, and so did the publication of the first book about the firm's demise. Bear Trap: The Fall of Bear Stearns and the Panic of 2008 hit shelves in September of 2008, and is easily one of the sloppiest, worst business books written in a long time -- quite an accomplishment.

So William D. Cohan's more rigorous account of Bear Stearns has a pretty easy act to follow. Still, House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess is one of the best corporate failure books I've ever read, taking its place alongside Kurt Eichenwald's Conspiracy of Fools, a meticulous recounting of the collapse of Enron.

My brother William Cohan's Fortune cover story on Bear Stearns' former CEO Jimmy Cayne has many fascinating tales. (Fortune and BloggingStocks share the same parent -- Time Warner (NYSE: TWX)). I found three to be most interesting.

• Bear was brought down by Fidelity and Federated Investors - Fortune argues that Bear depended on the market for 'overnight repos' -- loans of a one-day term collateralized by securities -- for $50 billion of its working capital. Bear used 71% of its mortgages as its collateral and according to Fortune, "Bear's reliance on overnight Rep effectively gave the overnight lenders -- such as Fidelity and Federated Investors -- a vote on the firm's viability every night. And during that fateful week in mid-March, those overnight lenders voted a collective no. The result? Bear Stearns did not have enough cash on hand to meet customers' demands during the run on the bank."
• Cayne nearly died of sepsis 11 months ago - The article begins, "In the early morning hours last Sept. 11, a black Town Car pulled up to the entrance of New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan. Inside the sedan Jimmy Cayne, the CEO of Bear Stearns, was close to death."
• Ace Greenberg planned to ask Barbara Walters to marry him the day before she wed Merv Adelson - Fortune says that Bear's Ace Greenberg told Cayne that he was was dating Walters and was planning to marry her. According to Fortune Greenberg told Cayne, 'I've decided I'm going to marry Barbara Walters.' The very next day in the papers she's engaged to Merv Adelson."

For the full story, read the article.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in Time Warner securities.