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Barbarians at the Gate  By  cover art

Barbarians at the Gate

By: Bryan Burrough, John Helyar
Narrated by: Bryan Burrough, John Helyar
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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)

What listeners say about Barbarians at the Gate

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Abridged and Poorly Read

What disappointed you about Barbarians at the Gate?

It's only 3 hours long and the narration (done by the authors) is poor at best.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Great book, not so great audiobook

The book has lost a lot in transcription, the original is far too heavily abridged. It is too linear, and has lost a lot of its journalistic depth. The book itself, however, is an absolute must.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

simplified

I am surprise to find out that the audiobook was a cut-down version from the original book. No wonder it is only 3 hour long. I am abit disappointed..

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Al
  • 07-14-13

Abridged version does not build enough story

This is stated as one of the all time greats, but after reading it seems the story dosnot come out in an abridged version. Not worth the credits to use on this one.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

3 hour audiobook for a 600 page book?

well told, but only recommend listening if you have read or plan to read the actual book

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A little too brief

I have read the full book at least three times. This was a good abridgment but not perfect. The personalities never really got developed completely and the stories that really demonstrated Ross Johnson's extravagance (the dog at the golf tournament) didn't make the cut. If you have read the book you will enjoy this version.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • L
  • 05-29-19

Just get the actual book

The authors do a poor job reading the abridged book. The book itself is an interesting read but the authors do an extremely terrible job of reading. The high pitched voice author reads the book at a speed that is so fast I assumed I had the reading speed on 1.5x. It’s as if he was like let’s get this over with as soon as possible and raced against himself. The two authors passing off paragraphs and pages was another bad idea because they had no transitions or feel for actually reading a book. Should have hired a voice actor and had that person read the full unabridged book.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Not the full book

Very disappointed. Not the full book. Don’t waste your money. The original is fantastic- this isn’t it.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Story of "Business" Guys gone wild

Loved the question they imagine the founders of the business would have asked... What does all this wheeling and dealing have to do with the business?

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Barbarians

interesting story. makes me wsnt to see the movie. The LBO process became confusing in how it was executed, but it sounds like it WAS confusing.

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1 person found this helpful