Amazing job of research and compiling a history of the illegal activity and greed of Wall Street during the 80s. I was vaguely aware of Boesky, Milken and insider trading. I was aware of hostile takeovers and the S & L crisis. This book made clear why we need government regulations and oversight. Greed consumes us. Power blinds us. We can be bought. We can be silenced. And well funded PR machines can make the bad guys seem good and the good guys look very, very bad.
I am immensely thankful for the low paid government attorneys who take prosecution seriously because they care about justice and the rule of law.

The saga of Drexel Burnham, Kidder Peabody, Martin Siegel, the junk bond king, and Dennis Levine is one of the most infamous in Wall Street history. In "Den of Thieves", Stewart (who did some original reporting when the scandal was unfolding) does an excellent job of laying out the entire story, diverse cast of characters, and explanations of the more advanced financial terms. This is an incredibly complex story, and a lesser writer would have struggled mightily. Stewart is not perfect in this aspect, as he sometimes fails to identify a person or how they relate to the story. His "Cast of Characters" inclusion in the book is welcome, but it is not a complete, thorough list. Still, he has to be commended for his writing prowess and the way he lays out this saga.

This book is about insider trading and its result for the players and the rest of us. James B. Stewart is, of course, a wonderful writer with the skill, backed up by sound research. He explains just what happened in a world where is is easier than one might suppose to forget about business ethics and the impact of this selective amnesia on one's clients and the rest of the world.

This is the Pulitzer Prize-winning expose of greed, horrific business ethics and insider trading performed by any number of 1980s arbitrageurs and Mergers & Acquisitions professionals, led by the worst of the lot: Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken. While they sat on their millions and worked to acquire more, they were cheating those who worked on Wall Street by the rules.

It's simultaneously fascinating and appalling to see the inner workings of such greedy and awful business behavior.

A must for any business professional.