On September 15, 2008, Wachovia CEO Bob Steel strode onto the set of Jim Cramer"s Mad Money and assured his country and shareholders of a ""great future"" for one of the nation"s largest banks. Within weeks, that assertion unraveled, as Steel scrambled to find a buyer for Wachovia and stock value evaporated amid the nation"s financial meltdown. Employees back in Wachovia"s headquarters in Charlotte - a banking powerhouse built through decades of deals - would suddenly find themselves for the first time on the wrong end of a major banking takeover. Banktown is a tale of triumph and tragedy, an account of crisis in Charlotte s own Bank of America and Wachovia, told with the ground-zero insights of the Charlotte Observer"s award-winning business reporter, Rick Rothacker. Vivid details and anecdotes humanize the tale, from sleep-deprived bankers analyzing a $50 billion deal in less than 24 hours to Wachovia customers realizing that their mystifying adjustable rate mortgages...