Barbarians at the gate

Barbarians at the Gate is a detailed and engaging narrative about the takeover of RJR Nabisco in 1988.

Written by investigative journalists Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, the book provides an unprecedented look at the financial operations and social history of the time.

It centers around F. Ross Johnson's plan to buy out RJR Nabisco, which led to a bidding war involving prominent figures like Henry Kravis and Ted Forstmann.

The book includes a new afterword that updates the story twenty years after the deal, tracing the subsequent success and failure of those involved and the impact of the story on the world.