Burrough (special correspondent, Vanity Fair) and Helyar (columnist, Bloomberg News) recount the frenzied two months, October and November 1988, during which RJR Nabisco (producer of Oreos and Camels) fell victim to the ruthless cutthroat style of American finance in the 1980s. The authors, reporters for the Wall Street Journal at the time, provided an exemplary example of investigative journalism in their tale of greed and glory, secret deals, and corporate sparring that is both informative and as readable as a well-written fast-paced novel. This edition contains a new afterword commissioned for the 20th anniversary of the story in which the authors revisit the winners and losers and trace the fallout of the deal. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

The leveraged buyout of the RJR Nabisco Corporation for $25 billion is a landmark in American business history, a story of avarice on an epic scale. Two versions of the fierce competition for the largest buyout ever consummated are presented by skilled journalists with contrasting styles. Burrough and Helyar are clearly fascinated with the personalities of the players in the deal and with the trappings of corporate wealth. The restless, flamboyant personality of Ross Johnson, CEO of RJR Nabisco, is portrayed as the key to the events that were to unfold. The colorful description of all of the players and the events will likely have broad appeal. Lampert signals the complexity of her story by introducing her narrative with a three-page cast of characters. Her focus on the strategy of the players and on the fast-paced action provides a more concise description of a deal big enough to augment the wealth of many rich people. Business libraries will want both versions of this story of capitalism drawn to the extreme, but students, looking for a more comprehensive treatment, will favor Lampert's version.-- Joseph Barth, U.S. Military Acad. Lib., West Point, N.Y. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Bryan Burrough was born in 1961 in Temple, Texas. Burrough is a New York Times best-selling author, special correspondent at Vanity Fair, and former Wall Street Journal reporter. Burrough graduated from the University of Missouri's School of Journalism in 1983. While in college, he was a reporter for the Columbia Missourian and interned at the Waco Tribune-Herald and the Wall Street Journal's Dallas Bureau.

Burrough's bestselling book, Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the F.B.I., 1933-34, is scheduled to be released as a movie in 2009.

Burrough is a three-time winner of the prestigious Gerald Loeb Award for Excellence in Financial Journalism. He lives in Summit, New Jersey with his wife and their two sons. <30> Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.