Business · Similar reads
Books like Barbarians at the Gate
The best books like Barbarians at the Gate are Liar's Poker, The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, and Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup. Barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough is about greed, leverage, corporate culture. If that's what drew you in, here are 12 books that share its DNA — each summarized on Superbook, and ready to chat with in the app.
- Liar's Poker
01
Michael Lewis · Business
Liar's Poker is Michael Lewis's account of his years as a bond salesman at Salomon Brothers in the 1980s, the decade when Wall Street stopped being a gentleman's club and became something closer to a casino.
Both dig into greed.
Read the summary → - The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
02
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
Michael Lewis · Economics
The Big Short is Michael Lewis's account of the 2008 financial crisis as seen through the eyes of a handful of contrarians who saw the collapse coming, bet against the American housing market, and were right.
Shares greed and wall street with Barbarians at the Gate.
Read the summary → - Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
03
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
John Carreyrou · Business
Bad Blood is Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou's account of Theranos, the blood-testing startup founded by Elizabeth Holmes that claimed its proprietary technology could run hundreds of diagnostic tests from a single finger-prick of blood.
A kindred business read.
Read the summary → - When Genius Failed
04
Roger Lowenstein · Economics
When Genius Failed is Roger Lowenstein's account of Long-Term Capital Management, the hedge fund that almost took down the global financial system in 1998.
A kindred business read.
Read the summary → - Googled: The End of the World As We Know It
05
Googled: The End of the World As We Know It
Ken Auletta · Business
Ken Auletta has been writing about media and power for the New Yorker since the 1990s, and Googled is his attempt to explain what Google did to the industries that preceded it.
Shares corporate culture and power with Barbarians at the Gate.
Read the summary → - Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street
06
Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street
John Brooks · Business
Business Adventures is a collection of twelve long-form New Yorker profiles originally published between 1959 and 1969.
Both dig into wall street.
Read the summary → - Good to Great
07
Jim Collins · Business
Good to Great is Jim Collins's attempt to answer a deceptively simple question: why do some good companies make the leap to sustained greatness while most don't?
Both dig into corporate culture.
Read the summary → - Managing
08
Harold Geneen · Business
Managing is Harold Geneen's account of the principles that governed his twenty-year tenure as CEO of ITT, which he transformed from a modest international telephone company into one of the largest conglomerates in the world.
Both dig into corporate culture.
Read the summary → - Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility
09
Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility
Patty McCord · Business
Powerful is Patty McCord's account of the people philosophy she developed as Chief Talent Officer at Netflix between 1998 and 2012.
Both dig into corporate culture.
Read the summary → - Where the Suckers Moon
10
Randall Rothenberg · Business
Where the Suckers Moon is Randall Rothenberg's exhaustive account of a single advertising account review: Subaru of America's 1991 search for a new agency.
Both dig into corporate culture.
Read the summary → - A People's History of the United States
11
A People's History of the United States
Howard Zinn · History
Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, first published in 1980, retells American history from the perspective of those who rarely appear in conventional textbooks: Native Americans, enslaved people, industrial workers, women, immigrants, and dissidents of various kinds.
Both dig into power.
Read the summary → - Annals of Imperial Rome
12
Tacitus · History
Tacitus wrote the Annals in the early second century CE as a history of Rome from the death of Augustus to the death of Nero — the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, covering roughly 14 to 68 CE.
Both dig into power.
Read the summary →
Books like Barbarians at the Gate: quick answers
What are the best books like Barbarians at the Gate?
The best books like Barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough are Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis, The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou, When Genius Failed by Roger Lowenstein, Googled: The End of the World As We Know It by Ken Auletta, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with Barbarians at the Gate, such as greed, leverage, corporate culture.
What should I read after Barbarians at the Gate?
A natural next read after Barbarians at the Gate is Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis. Both dig into greed. Other strong choices are The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou, When Genius Failed by Roger Lowenstein.
What books are similar to Barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough?
Barbarians at the Gate centers on greed, leverage, corporate culture. Books with a similar feel include Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis, The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou, When Genius Failed by Roger Lowenstein, Googled: The End of the World As We Know It by Ken Auletta, Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street by John Brooks — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
