Barbarians at the Gate

The Fall of RJR Nabisco

By: Bryan Burrough, John Helyar

Narrated by: Bryan Burrough, John Helyar

Length: 3 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Barbarians at the Gate has been called one of the most influential business books of all time, the definitive account of the largest takeover in Wall Street history. Bryan Burrough's and John Helyer's account of the frenzy that overtook Wall Street in October and November of 1988 is the story of dealmakers and publicity flaks, of strategy meetings and society dinners, of boardrooms and balls. It gives us not only a detailed look at financial operations at the highest levels but a richly textured social history of wealth in the twilight of the Reagan era.

©2003 Bryan Burrough and John Helyar (P)2007 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"A superlative book...steadily builds suspense until the very end." (Los Angeles Times Book Review)

poor narration

it was an informative book but the narration seemed amateurish. not my best audio book purchase to date.

LBO recap of the 90’s

A great recap of one of the storied falls of a business, the personality that drove it and a perfect micro assessment of the entire LBO frenzy of the 80’s and early 90’s

Non-stop deal making!

This shortened my 3.5 hour commute like no other audio book to date. Having lived through the dot com boom and experiencing the greed first hand, I could relate to the ever climbing offer price motivation. The justifications were the fascinating points. While it's easy to get lost in the ever changing deals or who's partnering with whom, this is an entertaining listen. The main business lesson here is that "greed is NOT good". Eventually, all you are left with is your greed.

abridgements leave big gaps

this book was abridged too tightly. it's a complex story that needed more of the details from the printed book

poor narration!

very poor narration!! no idea what the guy was really saying. I had read the book before so felt lucky!

Interesting story. Somewhat brief.

Interesting story. Seemed to be well researched and it narrated many behind the scenes activities. Was somewhat brief--a shorter book than I expected at just over three hours for the audio edition from audible.com. The epilogue, of what took place after the buyout , would have been interesting had it gone into a lot more detail then the 4 minutes allocated to it, and would have been a good way to flesh out the story some more. If more couldn't be found to write about this deal, more discussion on the rise and fall of LBOs in general would have been welcome. There was only passing mention of the junk bond rage of the 80s. More on that would have been a good way to flesh out this book also. That being said, I just realized this was an abridged version. If an unabridged version ever comes out, I will get it.


The narration was clear, but might have been a little more emotional and animated, especially in the beginning. Towards the climax, the narration seemed more animated to good effect--either that or I had gotten used to and warmed up to the narrator's intonation.

Wall Street Machinations, Corporate Greed and Big

I missed this one when it first came out. Great view into the machinations of Wall Street investment banking firms, corporate executive greed and hubris and over-sized egos.

very very dry

just way to much of a play by play of a corporate takeover. no insight into the players.

Overall OK book

Where does Barbarians at the Gate rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is an average listen for such a fascinating story. The story is a pinacle point in business history, but I think the author approached the story at too high of a level, and reads too fast. The author should not have read the book, and the more time should have been taken to explain the book. The event was interesting, but the book needed to take more time to explain all of the details of the event.

What other book might you compare Barbarians at the Gate to and why?

The Devils are all Here, When Genius Failed

What three words best describe John Helyar’s voice?

Too fast

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

terrible reader.

terrible reader, voice is annoying, doesin't stop when there's a comma etc. Story is good.