American Banker is as an institution, in the broadest sense of the word, every bit as much as the Federal Reserve, the FDIC or The New York Times. In fact, we've been around longer than any of those.

From "Learning From Lending" (1979) by P. Henry Mueller. Recommended by Richard Kovacevich, former chairman and CEO of Wells Fargo.

From "The Theory of Money and Credit" (1912) by Ludwig von Mises. Recommended By John Allison former chairman and CEO of BB&T.

This list was emailed to interns at JPMorgan Chase & Co. last year and reflects chairman and CEO Dimon's range of interests, from sales strategies to technological innovation to global economics.

From "Stabilizing an Unstable Economy" (2008) by Hyman P. Minsky. Recommended By Henry Kaufman President, Henry Kaufman & Co.

From "The Visual Display of Quantitative Information" (1983) by Edward R. Tufte. Recommended by Richard Carrion, Chairman and CEO, Popular Inc.

From "Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service" (1993) by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles. Recommended by Geoff Greenwade, President and CEO, Green Bank.

From "Unlocking the Full Potential of Women in the U.S. Economy: The Business Case for Diversity" (2011) by McKinsey & Co. Recommended by Karen Peetz, Vice chairman, Bank of New York Mellon.

From "Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion" (1999) by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank with Bob Andelman. Recommended by Vernon W. Hill, Vice chairman, Metro Bank (U.K.).

From "Banks and Politics in America from the Revolution to the Civil War" (1957) by Bray Hammond. Recommended by John Dugan and Jerry Hawke, former comptrollers of the currency.

From "Federal Regulation of Banking 1983-84" (1983) by Carter H. Golembe and David S. Holland. Recommended by Ed Yingling, former president and CEO, American Bankers Association.

From "13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown" (2010) by Simon Johnson and James Kwak. Recommended by Ralph Nader, Consumer activist.

From "Senseless Panic: How Washington Failed America" (2010) by William M. Isaac with Philip C. Meyer. Recommended by Joseph R. Ficalora, Chairman and CEO.

From "The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank, 1397-1494" (1966) by Raymond de Roover. Recommended by Edward Wehmer, Chairman and CEO, Wintrust Financial Corp.

From "Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World" (2009) by Liaquat Ahamed. Recommended by John Ikard, Chief Executive, FirstBank Holding Co.

From "Too Big To Fail" (2009) by Andrew Ross Sorkin. Recommended by Ray Davis, President and CEO, Umpqua Holdings.

From "The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine" (2010) by Michael Lewis. Recommended by John Kanas, Chairman and CEO, BankUnited.

From "Ben Love: My Life in Texas Commerce" (2005) by Ben F. Love. Recommended by Rusty Cloutier, President and CEO, MidSouth Bancorp.

From "Banker to the World: Leadership Lessons from the Front Lines of Global Finance" (2011) by William R. Rhodes. Recommended by Marc Hochstein, Executive Editor, American Banker.