Conspiracy of Fools

A True Story

By: Kurt Eichenwald

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Length: 30 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

From an award-winning New York Times reporter comes the full, mind-boggling true story of the lies, crimes, and ineptitude behind the Enron scandal that imperiled a presidency, destroyed a marketplace, and changed Washington and Wall Street forever.

It was the corporate collapse that appeared to come out of nowhere. In late 2001, the Enron Corporation - a darling of the financial world, a company whose executives were friends of presidents and the powerful - imploded virtually overnight, leaving vast wreckage in its wake and sparking a criminal investigation that would last for years.

Kurt Eichenwald transforms the unbelievable story of the Enron scandal into a rip-roaring narrative of epic proportions, taking readers behind every closed door - from the Oval Office to the executive suites, from the highest reaches of the Justice Department to the homes and bedrooms of the top officers. It is a tale of global reach - from Houston to Washington, from Bombay to London, from Munich to Sao Paolo - laying out the unbelievable scenes that twisted together to create this shocking true story.

Eichenwald reveals never-disclosed details of a story that features a cast including George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Paul O’Neill, Harvey Pitt, Colin Powell, Gray Davis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Alan Greenspan, Ken Lay, Andy Fastow, Jeff Skilling, Bill Clinton, Rupert Murdoch and Sumner Redstone. With its you-are-there glimpse into the secretive worlds of corporate power, Conspiracy of Fools is an all-true financial and political thriller of cinematic proportions.

©2005 Kurt Eichenwald (P)2005 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

• 2005 Audie Award Nominee, Nonfiction (Unabridged)

"As an unadorned attempt to get into the heads of some major manipulators, this book can hardly be bettered." (Publishers Weekly)

“The thriller of the year - and it’s all true!” (Dallas Morning News)

“Ranks with A Civil Action as one of the best nonfiction books of the last decade.” (New York Times Book Review)

"Conspiracy of Fools is a splendid achievement. Mr. Eichenwald has an encyclopedic grasp of a watershed business collapse, and has turned it into a gripping read, a true tale for our times." (The New York Times)

A story of greed and corporate dysfunction

If you could sum up Conspiracy of Fools in three words, what would they be?

Riveting tale of synchronized morons wrecking a company

What did you like best about this story?

A complex story told in a very well presented way.

Any additional comments?

It is almost impossible to put this book down.

Conspiracy of Fools

This is a great book on and about ENRON. The narrator is absolutely great. I so enjoyed listening to read thebook. He had me enthralled in the book. Great book great listen. Great narrator. Please please use him more

Riveting story of Enron's unravelling

I found it difficult to stop listening to the story. It depicts a corporate environment gone astray.

I lived through the California brown outs and relate to the anger that followed Enron's involvement in this debacle. For me, it was just paying a higher bill but I remember a family found dead from gas poisoning because they could not afford electrical heat and used a stove instead to stay warm - a human tragedy due to greed.

Could it happen again? I'm convince it will, unfortunately!

Extraordinary read; required reading for all business people

Absolutely extraordinary in every regard. A full-blown study of human behavior, economics, business, society. Among the best stories I’ve ever read and better than ANY business/leadership/management book out there. Exceptional!!! I’ll listen again!

Great recap of a epic corporate blunder

Book was well done well researched and well narrated…. Had many details that made reader learn so much about the Enron debacle. Worth the audible credit and then some.

Fantastic and extremely detailed

While I was completing my MBA I found this book and devoured it. Not only is the material important to our business generation but it is riveting. This book tied all of my study together and created a healthy business critic out of me. Read and listen to this book!

Good story...well written. Good narrator.

Listened twice so far. Lots of information for just one listen. Recommend for anyone in business...interested in Enron..
or true crime.

Amazing Story

The Enron story is beyond the average person's capability of understanding, myself included. This book allowed me to understand the actions that brought Enron down. The writing is excellent. It feels more like a novel than a nonfiction work. I highly recommend this to anyone that is interested in the Enron story, finance, accounting, and human nature.

Enron: a human story

don't think you can't follow the Enron story because it is too technical and business/ accounting boring. Not at all! this book reveals the human weaknesses and hubris that caused the fall of Enron. the author explains the business and accounting aspects of the story so clearly that anyone can follow.

Great story and narrative

This is one of the best business books I have read. The characters, the narrative, and the insights provided by Eichenwald drew me in and kept me entertained throughout the book.