Barbarians At The Gate

The battle for the control of RJR Nabisco in the Autumn of 1988, which became the largest and most dramatic corporate takeover in American history, sent shock-waves through the international business world and became a symbol of the greed, excess and egotism of the eighties.

THE BESTSELLER THAT DEFINED AN AGE, NOW WITH A NEW FOREWORD

From two award-winning business journalists comes the rollicking tale of one of the largest corporate takeovers in American history

'The most bizarre financial mock-epic of our age. Read it open-mouthed; wonder and shudder' Independent

‘One of the best business books of all time’ Economist

The fight to control food and tobacco giant RJR Nabisco during October and November of 1988 was more than just the largest takeover in Wall Street history. Marked by brazen displays of ego not seen in American business for decades, it became the high point of a new gilded age, and its repercussions are still being felt. The ultimate story of greed and glory, Barbarians at the Gate is the gripping account of these two frenzied months, of deal makers and publicity flaks, of an old-line industrial powerhouse that became the victim of the ruthless and rapacious style of finance in the 1980s.

Written with the bravado of a novel and researched with the diligence of a sweeping cultural history, here is the unforgettable story of the takeover in all its brutality.

‘A soap opera of greed and clashing egos’ New York Times