Episodes of History in the Stories of the United States and the Insurance Company of North A... Book

I first read this book when it was published in the early '90s, shortly after I had been fired from my job as a junkbond salesman. Back then, even though I had spent 5 years in the trenches, I had very little perspective on Wall Street, especially the history of LBO lending.

Reading Anders' account of the leveraging-up cycle of the '80s hit me with the force of something like a revelation. The scales fell from my eyes — and I came to see my previous career in a completely different light.

Coincidentally, as a teenager I had often caddied for Don Kelly, an important figure in Anders' story. Years later, as a young bondsalesman in the '80s, I made a living hawking the junkbonds created by Kelly & KKR's dealmaking. The Beatrice LBO imho was the highwater mark of the era, followed shortly thereafter by much worse deals, like RJR.

What I love about this book is its recitation of details, events & conversations which taken together reveal something of the intellectual currents of that era, the cosmos of ideas seemingly born in the late '70s that would underwrite years, even decades, of leveraging-up that is only now (possibly) slowly petering out.

Having recently reread this book — and several of its referenced sources — I want to say that this book is still great, still timely, relevant & informative.

I regret that George Anders hasn't published or said much about private-equity investing in recent years, which I think a great shame given his expertise and the recent discussions about PE occasioned by Mitt Romney's campaign.

Hopefully Anders will someday publish an entirely new book on this subject, picking up where this one ends. I'd love to read a long, updated addendum.