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
Radical Uncertainty
Information
It's Earnings That Count
Entangled Life
The Signal and the Noise
Nothing To Lose
The 80/20 Principle
Think Like a Rocket Scientist
A Matter of Degrees
Writing My Wrongs
Mindfulness in Plain English
The Power of Broke
Call of the Reed Warbler
The Forgotten Man
World Order
Startups
Anthropic Bias
P53
Energy And Civilization
Why We Sleep
The Golden Compass
Sexual Personae
Smart People Should Build Things
The Trap
Saving Capitalism from Short Termism
Fahrenheit 451
A Woman Makes a Plan
Models. Behaving. Badly.
The Death of the Artist
Chasing Hillary
How To Talk to Anyone
Strength In Stillness
Grit
Ford vs. Ferrari
Public Opinion
Lean Thinking
Dopamine Detox
Intellectuals and Society
The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need
Tools of Titans
The Dragons of Eden
Defend The Border and Save Lives
How Google Works
Out of the Crisis
Poor Charlie's Almanack
The Third Chimpanzee
Pippi Longstocking
The Power of Relentless
The Billionaire Shell Game
A Whole New Mind
The Inflamed Mind
Old Man and the Sea
Bad News
Being Aware of Being Aware
The Blind Watchmaker
United States of Socialism
Moonwalking with Einstein
Fallen Dragon
Slouching Towards Bethlehem
On The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation
Out of Mao's Shadow
Adaptive Markets
The Vision of the Annointed
Fertility Pastures
The Act of Creation
Central Banking 101
River Out of Eden
Fall; or, Dodge in Hell
A Story Lately Told
The Boys Vol. 1
The Discovery of France
The Wisdom of Life
Work Hard. Be Nice.
Dog Man
Talent
Frames of Mind
The Book of Five Rings
Architects of the Web
The Second World War
The Grapes of Wrath
Bitcoin and Black America
Americana
Defender In Chief
Under Saturn's Shadow
Who
The Master and Margarita
Platform Revolution
The Making of Europe
Globalizing Capital
The Viral Storm
Planta Sapiens
Experimental Man
In Praise of Slowness
An Inconvenient Truth
Mohandas K. Ghandi
The Rise of the Rest
Can't Hurt Me
The City In History
The Survivor
Washington