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
The Essays of Schopenhauer
Margaret Thatcher: Herself Alone
Blue Ocean Strategy
Prelude to Foundation
Tipping Points
Bitcoin
Unstoppable Prosperity
Matthew Barney & Elizabeth Peyton
Think and Grow Rich
Metamagical Themas
Why We Sleep
Rich Woman
From Galileo to Newton
Against The World
The Meaning of It All
Keeping At It
White Working Class
Deep Learning
No Filter
The Inner Lives of Markets
Limping on Water
Win Your Inner Battles
The Aspirational Investor
A History of the Theory of Investments
Architects of the Web
Fundamentals of Plasma Physics
Private Truths, Public Lies
The Big Test
String Theory
Courage
Crucial Conversations
Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me)
Washington
Stumbling on Happiness
The Meaning of Human Existence
Brave New World
Antifragile
Quality of Earnings
The Death of the Artist
The Skeptical Environmentalist
Seveneves
Democracy: The God That Failed
Founders at Work
The Constitutional Convention
The One Thing
Rich Dad's Cashflow Quadrant
The Bullish Case for Bitcoin
The Power of Now
How To Decide
The Prince
Joe Beef
The Innovators Dilemma
The Harder You Work, The Luckier You Get
The Greedy Bastard Diary
Shoe Dog
Facing Love Addiction
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Mindfulness
Against Empathy
Death Rattle
The Coming Wave
The Harmless People
When Money Dies
Lasker's Manual of Chess
Mind-Body Problem
The Wealth of Nations
Chess Fundamentals
Bull!
Three Blind Mice
The Art of War in the Middle Ages
The Gun Seller
True Believer
Daemon
A Brief History of Intelligence
The Autobiography of Gucci Mane
Measure What Matters
Confidence Game
The Lives of the Artists
How to Make Millions with Your Ideas
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
Nexus
AOL.com
Spiritual Warfare
12 Rules For Life
Animal Farm
Failing Forward
The Making of a Philosopher
Anti Americanism
Stuff Matters
World Order
Reinventing American Health Care
The Boys Vol. 1
Wealth of Wisdom
Status Anxiety
Your Keys Our Home
Metaphors We Live By
Wild
The Humane Economy
The Story of Civilization: Caesar and Christ
Posterity: Letters of Great Americans to Their Children