Robert Sobel

Robert Sobel
Robert Sobel in a promotional photo for his publisher
Born	Robert Sobel (1931-02-19)February 19, 1931 The Bronx, New York City
Died	June 2, 1999(1999-06-02) (aged 68)
Occupation	Writer, editor, professor
Nationality	American
Alma mater	New York University
Period	1956–1999
Genre	Business History
Notable works	For Want of a Nail (1973)

Robert Sobel (February 19, 1931 – June 2, 1999) was an American professor of history at Hofstra University and a well-known and prolific writer of business histories.

Sobel was born in the Bronx, in New York City, New York. He completed his B.S.S. (1951) and M.A. (1952) at City College of New York, and after serving in the U.S. Army, obtained a Ph.D. from New York University in 1957. He started teaching at Hofstra in 1956. Sobel eventually became Lawrence Stessin Distinguished Professor of Business History at Hofstra. After his death, the university established the Robert Sobel Endowed Scholarship for Excellence in Business History and Finance.

Sobel's first business history, published in 1965, was The Big Board: A History of the New York Stock Market. It was the first history of the stock market written in over a generation. The book was met with favorable reviews and solid sales, and Sobel's writing career was launched. Several of his subsequent books were bestsellers.

Besides writing more than 30 books, Sobel authored many articles, book reviews, and scripts for television documentaries and mini-series. From 1972 to 1988, Sobel's weekly investment column, "Knowing the Street," was nationally syndicated through New York Newsday. He was also regularly published in national periodicals, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. At the time of his death, Sobel was also a contributing editor to Barron's Magazine. He was a regular guest on financial and other news shows, such as Wall Street Week and Crossfire.

Sobel was almost as famous for his only work of fiction, the 1973 book, For Want of a Nail. This book is an alternate history in which Burgoyne won the Battle of Saratoga during the American Revolutionary War. This work detailed the history of an alternate timeline, complete with footnotes. Sobel had authored or co-authored several actual textbooks. For Want of a Nail was republished in 1997 and won a special achievement Sidewise Award for Alternate History that year.