In this fast-paced account, Robert Sobel analyzes the causes of the "Junk Decade" against a backdrop of incisive portraits of the perpetrators of some of the most dizzying and daring financial machinations the world has ever seen. Dangerous Dreamers is the story of clever scoundrels and brilliant innovators, such as Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken. It is also the story of the big banks, the pension and mutual funds, the insurance companies, and the S & Ls, who had a critical role in this period of financial instability.