Barbarians at the Gate
Barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough and John Helyarby Bryan Burrough and John Helyar
Ranked 3 of 4 business history books by recommenders
Recommended as a classic account of the attempted RJR Nabisco takeover, with detailed figures and a good mix of narrative and financial mechanics.
Recommended as a classic account of the attempted RJR Nabisco takeover, with detailed figures and a good mix of narrative and financial mechanics.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Detailed portraits of key figures
“The story gets into the details of key figures involved, including Henry Kravis”
Comment from 4 May 2026 in “GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay” Classic account of RJR Nabisco takeover
“a classic about the attempted takeover of RJR Nabisco”
Comment from 19 Feb 2026 in “Mark Zuckerberg overruled 18 wellbeing experts to keep beauty filters on Insta” Good mix of story and mechanics
“It gives a nice mix of story and financial mechanics.”
Comment from 5 May 2026 in “GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay”
Other business history books people recommend
The three most recommended other business history books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eccentric Orbitsby John Bloom | 8 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| The Man Who Solved the Marketby Gregory Zuckerman | 7 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| Barbarians at the Gateby Bryan Burrough and John HelyarThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| More Money Than Godby Sebastian Mallaby | 2 | 1 | 67% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 3 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It gives a nice mix of story and financial mechanics.”
“The story gets into the details of key figures involved, including Henry Kravis”
“a classic about the attempted takeover of RJR Nabisco”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.