Bryan Burrough

Bryan Burrough is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author known for his deeply reported works of narrative nonfiction that explore American business, crime, history, and culture. With a career spanning more than four decades, Burrough has earned a reputation for combining investigative journalism with the storytelling pace and drama of a novel.

A graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Burrough began his career as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, where he covered business and finance and won three Gerald Loeb Awards for excellence in financial journalism. He later became a longtime special correspondent for Vanity Fair, producing acclaimed investigative features on politics, business, and prominent figures, and currently serves as editor at large for Texas Monthly.

Burrough is the author or coauthor of eight books, including several New York Times bestsellers. His landmark works include "Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco" (with John Helyar), widely regarded as one of the definitive books on corporate power and Wall Street dealmaking; "Public Enemies," an examination of America’s 1930s crime wave and the rise of the FBI; "The Big Rich," a sweeping history of Texas oil dynasties; and "Forget the Alamo" (with Chris Tomlinson and Jason Stanford), a reexamination of one of America’s most enduring historical myths.

His most recent book, "The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild," explores the origins of the legendary American gunfighter and challenges many of the myths surrounding the Wild West. Blending historical research with Burrough’s signature narrative style, the book examines how violence, politics, culture, and frontier life shaped the figures who became icons of American folklore, including Jesse James, Billy the Kid, and other legendary characters of the era.