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Den of Thieves (平装)
by James B. Stewart
| Category:
Insider trading, Wall Street, Scandal, Stock market |
| Market price: ¥ 200.00
MSL price:
¥ 178.00
[ Shop incentives ]
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| Stock:
In Stock |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
A damningly detailed account of the predatory conspirators whose willful violations of securities law and ethical standards gave Wall Street a deservedly bad name during the takeover frenzy of the 1980's. |
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AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 10 items |
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The New York Times (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
Absolutely Splendid... Tremendously Important... Indecently Readable. |
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USA Today (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
A fast-paced adventure populated with people who could teach the characters in 'Dallas' and 'Dynasty' a thing or two... It is a must read for anyone trying to make sense of the greed decade. |
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The Washington Post (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
Bursting with details... but told with magical clarity. |
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The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
Stewart takes the reader through the maze of arcane Wall Street dealings as if he were writing a detective story. |
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Rolf Dobelli, Switzerland
<2006-12-25 00:00>
This classic account of insider trading during the greed decade remains as riveting today as the day it was published. Prize-winning journalist James B. Stewart manages to turn an account of the arcane market manipulation that led to the 1987 crash into a page-turner with all the suspense of a detective novel. And while the main villains here - Michael Milken and Ivan Boesky - have faded off the public radar, their philosophical descendants at Enron, Tyco and Adelphia remind investors that greed and market manipulation will never go out of style. Stewart's richly detailed book is must reading for those who trust their careers or their savings to the markets. We recommend this withering account of over-the-top greed to anyone who works or invests on Wall Street. |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
If you like mysteries, cover-ups, intricate plots, good and bad guys and soap opera, this book is for you. What makes it so frightening is that it is real. The question I kept asking myself is how do we know that this won't happen again, or isn't going on right now. And yet, we know that in the investment and banking worlds given the situations in Asia and Latin America, there are more shoes to drop. I believe that this industry has been infiltrated by more bad habits - power, greed and hunger - than most. The culture has encouraged it. A new book I read describes these problems well and then offers a way out. THE 2,000 PERCENT SOLUTION talks about 'stalls' that keep us from changing. In investment banking, The Communications Stall means that some people get messages before others, creating an unfair advantage. The Disbelief Stall makes them think that they aren't doing anything wrong and won't get caught. The Tradition Stall says that business has always been done that way, so it's okay. The Bureaucratic Stall would make them think that if there is enough red tape, no one will figure out what is going on. The Misconception Stall says that they were operating under poor assumptions, because they did get caught. The Unattractiveness Stall means that if something looks unpleasant, just cover it up. What is needed is a new way to do business and a new system of checks and balances, a 2,000 percent solution. |
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Melvin Hunt (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
This was an outstanding book about some dishonest financiers. You get a good closeup look at some of the most dominant figures in the world of high finance during their time.Michael Milken, Dennis Levine,Ivan Boesky,and Dennis Levine about brought to the front and center due to the efforts of this book. The tactics(such as stock Parking)are explained in this book. The number one financial tool of this era,junk bonds also recieve adequate attention and explanation in this writing. The king of the junk bond Michael Milken is well highlighted in the book as well.Also portrayed in the book was the prosecution efforts of Rudolph Guliani.
The greedy nature of these people and of this time is adequately highlighted due to this book.
This is an excellent read on this subject. in the book was the prosecution efforts of one Rudolph Guliani.
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M. Strong, USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
Den of Thieves is a snapshot of human nature showing its seemy side. Stewart's book has a cast of characters you couldn't believe if it were a work of fiction. The most brilliant thing about "Den of Thieves" is the range of villians in the book; no two come to their law-breaking in the same manner or embrace it to the same degree. All of them find temptation (usually in the form of large heaps of easy money) too hard to resist.
Stewart avoids the temptation to paint all of his law-breakers with the same brush and just focus in on the nuts and bolts of the story's timeline. Instead, he allows you to meet each individual and see how they became embroiled in Wall Street's worst scandal since the 1930s. You see some of the simple unrepentant scumbags you'd expect (Levine most closely fits the bill), but mostly you see more complex people. Milken comes off as a truly broken person who was never completely connected to reality in the same way most of us are. Most of the players come off as ordinary people who, on their own, would have cruised through their careers in uneventful fashion if not presented with a tempting, lawless option by a more proactive criminal. Each of the perpetrators has their own level of comfort with their involvement in the insider trading scheme. Some are so uncomfortable that they get out of the scheme on their own, some cry over the money they can't bring themselves to stop taking, and of course some just think they are God's gift to the financial world.
You also get to see how law enforcement can work in a situation like this - sometimes it isn't very pretty. You come to realize that regulators and public prosecutors are imperfect people in imperfect situations, subject to their own set of desires, temptations and problems. Rudy Guliani's office prosecutes this case in the public eye while he positions himself to run for Mayor of NYC. The SEC unwittingly committs a huge insider trade of its own by allowing Ivan Boesky to unload his portfolio before the public announcement of his arrest and cooperation with authorities - so he can pay them his $100 million fine. (It seems temptation's not quite as far away as the authorities think).
Great story. Great character development. Great lessons. Highly recommended. |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
I would like to begin by saying that it is amazing what kind of copious and exhaustive research has gone into the writing of this book. James Stewart weaves a story of greed, lies, betrayals, and human frailty. The books accounts for the most significant events on Wall Street thoughout the 19080s, detailing various schemes of insider trading and more devious manipulations of the market that can be hardly understood by people not in the invenstment field. Even today the ramifications of the acts of then household names such as Boesky, Siegel, and Milken cannot be fully realized. It is a book that would make people weep who lost everything in the wake of of "high yield" bond depreciation, and to caution others to take most things told to them by investment bankers, arbs, and other financial figures with a grain of salt. Many who read this book feel that Milken was unfairly treated and got the short end of the stick at sentencing time. However, I would argue that no one in the schemes outlined got anywhere near the punishment that they deserved. All of the criminals in this book, and criminals they were of greatest magnitude who stole from investors, their employees, and the American people untold sums, came out wealthy and little shaken by the experience. It is interesting to note that the book treats everyone kindly on some level other than Dennis Levine who is nothing but villiefied throughout the book as stupid, ineffectual, overweight and crass. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, but especially those who are thinking about going into the field of investment, businessmen, and people who want to know more about Wall Street in the 1980's. |
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J. Wurmser (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
James B. Stewart pieces together a complex and harrowing story of the 1980s insider trading scandal that rocked Wall Street. Already a Pulitzer Prize winner as a writer for the Wall Street Journal, Stewart masterfully develops the true story of how a handful of white collar criminals nearly destroyed investor confidence in the capital markets.
The book dives deep into the fascinating and complicated characters at the center of the story and explores the ugly sides of human nature that drove these men to engage in a ring of insider trading, stock manipulation and securities fraud - and how they got caught.
At the core of the story is Michael Milken, the junk bond "king" and de facto head of the once-mighty Drexel Burnham Lambert; his client and conspirator Ivan Boesky, and investment bankers Dennis Levine and Martin Siegel. Their endless greed and cavalier attitudes made them some of the richest and most powerful figures of their time, and eventually drove them to indictment, humiliation, prison and financial ruin.
The only improvement I could think of would be to add a diagram of who's who in the book as many characters come and go in the story, including the tens of lawyers, witnesses and bankers. The book mentions a diagram created by prosecutor Bruce Baird, perhaps the author could have helped guide his readers using a similar chart himself.
Overall this is a fantastic read as an insightful and thought-provoking study of human behavior. Whether you are involved in the financial industry or not, this compelling part of history will thrill you to the last page.
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1 Total 1 pages 10 items |
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