Barbarians at the Gate

The Fall of RJR Nabisco

By: Bryan Burrough, John Helyar

Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin

Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

“One of the finest, most compelling accounts of what happened to corporate America and Wall Street in the 1980s.” (New York Times Book Review)

A number-one New York Times best seller and arguably the best business narrative ever written, Barbarians at the Gate is the classic account of the fall of RJR Nabisco. An enduring masterpiece of investigative journalism by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, it includes a new afterword by the authors that brings this remarkable story of greed and double-dealings up to date 20 years after the famed deal. The Los Angeles Times calls Barbarians at the Gate, “Superlative”. The Chicago Tribune raves, “It’s hard to imagine a better story...and it’s hard to imagine a better account.” And in an era of spectacular business crashes and federal bailouts, it still stands as a valuable cautionary tale that must be heeded.

©1989, 2009 Bryan Burrough, John Helyar (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Good book but too dense

The story is well told but it goes on for too long and too in depth. Not every phone call or meal needs to be detailed. Still, an incredible story about Wall Street and LBOs.

Great intro to LBO's

This well written, well researched book provides a great intro into how the process of taking a company into an LBO works.

insane. A must for every MBA.

Action packed story that reads like a heist thriller for nerds. One of the best books ever. You'll want to finish in one sitting!

Excellent read

Well worth the time. What a rivoting story! I sure hope people have learned from this.

Narrator is just ok

Narrator takes some getting used to in pace and tone but the book is excellent

Perfectly Read but Confusing!

Fascinated by the personalities but wish the authors had been more explanatory about the financial maneuvers and instruments. Perhaps they never imagined readers beyond the Wall Street Journal crowd would be interested. But we are — and personally I could have benefited from more definitions and explanations all along the way. Despite my needing to google “debentures” and such, I found the book fascinating and the narrator just perfect.

Fun finance heavy story

This book requires a fair amount of attention, as it covers a lot of characters. It feels like a good window into what the 1980s LBO craze was like. It focuses less on employees and customers than shareholders and executives.

Great book as expected

Great book, one of the greatest stories in the acquisition realm. The audio is great too

I would avoid it if you’re ESL

So very good writing but he frequent uses sentences like “the 6 times over octogenarian was a real Dutch uncle” and if you don’t get that then this book will be very long

interesting conflict

I likes all the detail and integue. there is a lot of insight into the inner workings of wall street and large corporations.