Barbarians At The Gate

The Fall of RJR Nabisco

Bryan Burrough

Recommended By

Book Reviews

Book Synopsis

"Barbarians At The Gate" by Bryan Burrough is a riveting non-fiction account of the high-stakes corporate takeover battle for RJR Nabisco in the late 1980s. Burrough takes readers through the mesmerizing world of Wall Street deals, power struggles, and inflated egos.

The story delves into the intense rivalry between Ross Johnson, the charismatic CEO of RJR Nabisco, and Henry Kravis, the billionaire dealmaker leading the takeover attempt. As the battle unfolds, Burrough masterfully reveals the audacious tactics, backroom negotiations, and astronomical sums of money involved.

Through meticulous research and interviews with the key players, Burrough portrays the excesses of the era and the greed-driven mentality that dominated the financial industry. The narrative explores the intricate mechanisms of leveraged buyouts, junk bonds, and the complex web of relationships that allowed such deals to take place.

"Barbarians At The Gate" also paints a vivid picture of the personalities involved, from the corporate executives and brash traders to the journalists who chronicled every twist and turn. Burrough provides a nuanced understanding of their motivations, vulnerabilities, and the human drama that unfolded behind closed doors.

With expert storytelling and a fast-paced narrative, "Barbarians At The Gate" captivates readers, delivering an engrossing tale of corporate intrigue and the obscene amounts of money at stake. This book offers a fascinating insight into a pivotal moment in Wall Street history that forever changed the rules of the game.

Explore More Books

See All
Showing Up for Life
The Emotionally Intelligent Investor
Happiness
Killers of the Flower Moon
Team of Teams
Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge
The Story of Civilization: The Age of Napoleon
Monetizing Innovation
Statistical Consequences of Fat Tails
René Girard's Mimetic Theory
Trump and Churchill
Midnight In Chernobyl
The 48 Laws of Power
Statistical Models
The Third Chimpanzee
Unravelling the Double Helix
The Better Angels of our Nature
Liar's Poker
Factfulness
Boyd
Teddy and Booker T.
Think on These Things
Son of the Morning Star
Deep Survival
Human Action
Something Like an Autobiography
Good Profit
Growth IQ
Born a Crime
Ficciones
Manias, Panics, and Crashes
Stretching the School Dollar
The Deficit Myth
The World Until Yesterday
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
How Asia Works
Falling into Grace
The Hustler
The Bonfire of the Vanities
The First Crash
Stone Age Economics
The Meaning of the 21st Century
Pride and Prejudice
Origin Story
Cognitive Surplus
Fables
Experimental Man
Who We Are and How We Got Here
The Statistical Mechanics of Financial Markets
Distress
Memoirs
A Woman Makes a Plan
Mastery
Outlive
Sell with a Story
A Writer's Time
The Master Switch
Starting Strength
The Book of Life
The Truth Machine
The Sunday Philosophy Club
The Last Days of Night
Infectious Generosity
The Social Photo
Dear Founder
Flying Start
The Four
Fertility Pastures
Rise of the Robots
Hit Refresh
Investment Biker
A Second Chance
One Up
The Fund
Fooling Some of the People All of the Time
Modern Engineering for Design of Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines
Lifespan
The Principia
Ishmael
Too Dumb to Fail
The Last Lion
Deep Simplicity
But What If We're Wrong?
T
Never Eat Alone
Plan B 3.0
The Mind of Napoleon
The Singularity Is Near
The Art of Possibility
Understanding Comics
The Little Bitcoin Book
Information
Complexity
The Making of Prince of Persia
King, Warrior, Magician, Lover
Little, Big
Positioning
Data-Driven Marketing
Continental Reckoning
The House of Getty