No.01 — 1990
Barbarians at the Gate
with John Helyar · HarperCollins
The Fall of RJR Nabisco. A #1 New York Times bestseller for 39 weeks, chronicling the era-defining leveraged buyout that came to symbolize 1980s Wall Street excess. Basis for the HBO film.
“All the suspense of a first-rate thriller… One of the finest, most compelling accounts of what happened to corporate America and Wall Street in the 1980s.”— The New York Times Book Review
“A superlative book.”— Los Angeles Times Book Review
“The most piercing and compelling narrative of a deal to date.”— Boston Globe
“It's hard to imagine a better story… and it's hard to imagine a better account.”— Chicago Tribune
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No.02 — 1992
Vendetta
HarperCollins
American Express and the Smearing of Edmond Safra — a story of corporate espionage and character assassination at the highest levels of international banking.
“Fascinating dimension to a story that spans almost a decade.”— Library Journal
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No.03 — 1998
Dragonfly
HarperCollins
An epic adventure of survival in outer space — NASA and the crisis aboard the Mir space station, told with the pace of a thriller.
“Frightening, informative, and silkily readable.”— The New Yorker
“The best of its kind in the past five years.”— The Boston Globe
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No.04 — 2004
Public Enemies
Penguin Press
America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34. The definitive account of Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, and the outlaws who forged the modern Bureau. Basis for the Johnny Depp / Christian Bale film.
“Hard to imagine a more careful, complete, and entrancing book on the subject.”— The Washington Post
“Iconoclastic and fascinating.”— Kirkus Reviews
“Compellingly brings back to life people and times distorted in the popular imagination…”— Publishers Weekly
“An amazingly detailed true-life thriller…”— Entertainment Weekly, Ten Best Books of the Year
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No.05 — 2009
The Big Rich
Penguin
The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes. A sweeping history of the wildcatters and dynasties that defined 20th-century Texas.
“Full of schadenfreude and speculation—and solid, timely history too.”— Kirkus Reviews
“Gifts for both synthesis and lyricism.”— The New York Times
“A portrait of capitalism as white-knuckle risk taking…”— Booklist
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No.06 — 2015
Days of Rage
Penguin Press
America's Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence. An exhaustively reported history of the Weather Underground and its contemporaries.
“Thoroughgoing and fascinating… a superb chronicle.”— Kirkus Reviews
“Burrough's insights are powerful.”— Publishers Weekly
“A fascinating, in-depth look at a tumultuous period of American unrest.”— Booklist
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No.07 — 2021
Forget the Alamo
with Chris Tomlinson and Jason Stanford
The Rise and Fall of an American Myth. A reexamination of the Alamo story and how it was built, sold, and defended across two centuries.
“The narrative soon hits its stride, and the story becomes a lively and absorbing one.”— The New York Times Book Review
“Engrossing… a chatty and amusing style.”— The Wall Street Journal
“Muscular prose that's heavy on deadpan understatement.”— Houston Chronicle
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No.08 — 2025
The Gunfighters
Penguin Press · Most recent
How Texas Made the West Wild. Burrough's latest, tracing the real history behind the American gunfighter archetype.
“One hell of a good read.”— The New York Times
“A great debunking… a hell of a good time.”— The Washington Post
“Lively… a worthy subject for his engrossing history.”— The Wall Street Journal
“A treat for Western history buffs who don't mind plenty of debunking along the way.”— Kirkus Reviews
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