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 Heart of Yoga
Broken Money
Remote: Office Not Required
A Fighting Chance
A Brief History of Time
Why Wages Rise
The Boys in the Boat
Bloodlands
Trading Bases
Relentless
The Making of an American Thinking Class
Memos From The Chairman
The Hunger Games
Hidden Potential
The Measure of Reality
The Most Important Thing
Permaculture: A Designer's Manual
The Republic
Deep Medicine
Dead Wake
Margaret Thatcher: Herself Alone
The Ambiguities of Experience
The Wager
Drawing Life
Blink
A Short History of Financial Euphoria
How To Win at the Sport of Business
Look to Windward
Wonderworks
I Will Teach You To Be Rich
The Belly Art Project
The Venture Mindset
Malabar Farm
The Role of the Individual in History
My American Journey
Emergency
Automate This
Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart
Bureaucracy
High Growth Handbook
Frenemies
Start-up Nation
The Sleep Revolution
The Righteous Mind
Indigenous Continent
Genome
The Therapeutic Turn
The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí
The Martians of Science
The Immortality Key
Physics of the Impossible
The Elements of Statistical Learning
Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention
Trillion Dollar Coach
Way of the Warrior Kid
Jesse Livermore - Boy Plunger
Caste
Knowledge and The Wealth of Nations
Leonardo Da Vinci
Crime and Punishment
Andrew Carnegie
Batman
Altars of Unhewn Stone
Deep Learning
Resistance (At All Costs)
Walking
The Act of Creation
The Art of Asking
The Science of Conjecture
The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem
Inside the Investor's Brain
Seveneves
Great Expectations
The Success Equation
A Mind at Home with Itself
The Kite Runner
Conspiracy
The Experience Machine
The Chile Project
Thinking with Type
The Amber Spyglass
Home Economics
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Cloud Atlas
The Confessions
Hyperion
The Start-up of You
Tent Life in Siberia
The Gray Lady Winked
Down to Earth
Devil Take the Hindmost
The Piano Tuner
Scientific Advertising
Wealth of Wisdom
What Has Government Done To Our Money?
The Beginning Of Infinity
Old Man and the Sea
Trump: America First
Demons
Twilight of the Bombs