Recommended by: WiseSuit Staff  

Spending over six months on the New York Times bestseller list, Barbarians at the Gate has been called one of the most influential business books of all time.

It gives a definitive behind-the-scenes account of the largest takeover in Wall Street history at the time: the $25 billion leveraged buyout of the RJR Nabisco Corporation.

Bryan Burrough and John Helyar's gripping account of the frenzy that overtook Wall Street in October and November of 1988 is the story of deal makers and publicity flaks, of strategy meetings and society dinners, of boardrooms and bedrooms - giving us not only a detailed look at how financial operations at the highest levels are conducted but also a richly textured social history of wealth at the twilight of the Reagan era.

As suspense-filled and intriguing as any novel, the authors take us on a journey behind closed doors where we see how some of the most powerful names in business operate. We meet colorful managers such as F. Ross Johnson, President of RJR Nabisco. We observe how legendary financiers and brokers like Henry Kravis and George Roberts (of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.), Ted Forstmann (of Forstmann Little & Co.) and Bruce Wasserstein (of Wasserstein Perella & Co.) structure deals, execute deals, and change industries. We learn how untamed human emotion can build and destroy at the same time.

The authors give a detailed and powerful account of the biggest transaction in an era of intense and frenetic deal making. This book is a must-read as history always repeats itself because we either don't study the past, or we forget what we studied in the past. When history does repeat itself, with our knowledge of the past, we'll be wise and ready.

 Reviews:

"A superlative book, a reconstruction of awesome proportions... The writing is unflawed... steadily builds suspense until the very end." - Los Angeles Times Book Review

About the Authors:

Bryan Burrough and John Helyar are former reporters for The Wall Street Journal.

Bryan Burrough is now a special correspondent for Vanity Fair and is also author of Dragonfly and Vendetta. He lives in New Jersey.

John Helyar is a senior writer for Fortune magazine. He is also the author of Lords of the Realm: The Real History of Baseball, named one of the top 100 sports books by Sports Illustrated. He lives in Atlanta.

Category:  Corporate Finance