Under the Influence: The Unauthorized Story of the Anheuser-Busch Dynasty

by Peter Hernon, Terry Ganey

Two journalists tell the story of the Anheuser-Busch corporate monarchy, featuring scandals, sins, and ruthlessness in the pursuit of power and profits

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, Business

462 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Peggy Abeln · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting to read about a family that lived near me, and whose family mansion I drove by most of my life. The fantasy life of this family is intriguing and the landmarks all part of living in St Louis. To hear of how this beer moguls family and business came to be is really fascinating.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read for those especially in St. Louis...no longer in print. Almost like the Kennedy clan.

[John E · Rating 3 out of 5]

sNot your typical mid-American family that became rich and famous by selling the symbol of commonality: beer. Not very original in the naming of male offspring, the book luckily has a family tree that helps. It is a prime case of the power of advertising. Such boors. As a postscript: Anheuser Busch Brewing is now part of an international cartel and Budweiser is no longer an American beer.

[Mitch Romig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rendered obsolete by Bitter Brew, but this is still a great book if you want more.

[Joel Lantz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Budweiser still sucks.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fucked up family. But then of course they are, after all: Budweiser.

[Joe Keefhaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recently reread this older history of Anheuser-Busch, written when it was still under the control of the Busch family. Fascinating story.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. As a native St. Louisian, this book could be pretty fascinating at times. It was peppered with names I've heard all my life, Lemp, Busch, Faust, Orthwein, etc. The history of the city is closely tied to the breweries and you can't help but be awed by the scale of the whole thing.

The book is written in a balanced, not salacious manner, and does not read like a tell-all, even if it is "unauthorized."

After reading, I also downloaded the most recent version, which goes beyond the 1990's and includes the In-Bev takeover and the death of August IV's girlfriend, but is not recent enough to cover the Katz trial. There's probably plenty of that online anyway.

[Mike Gassmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read. Really interesting stuff. A great history lesson and fantastic behind the scenes insight. Although it is "unauthorized" everything seems very well documented and the sources reliable. A lot has happened to the family and the company in the 15 years since this book was written. I am moving on to what appears to be the unofficial sequel from a couple years ago - Bitter Brew: The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America's Kings of Beer .

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent account of the history of the Busch family that started the beer company in the 1800's. The book traces the lives of all the old family patriarchs who ran the company over the years, and the successes, failures, and scandals that have occurred over the past 150 years.

This book was REALLY interesting. Couldn't hardly put it down. I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in how Budweiser Beer grew to dominate the market---really dominate, with over 40% of all the total domestic sales in beer. A very readable and entertaining book.

[Josh Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who was born and raised in St. Louis, MO, I learned a lot from this book. The Busch family, especially the patriarchs are not the great people that they are portrayed as being by most media. Most of them are amoral, gun-toting, paranoid, overtly entitled jerks.

I'm glad I didn't grow up in their family.

The authors did a nice job of laying out the history as flatly as possible. The book is a pretty easy read all in all. The new version has been updated to include the takeover stuff as well as August IV's girlfriend who over-dosed in 2010.

[Jane Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone from STL should read this book. VERY interesting. It was written in 1991. You may need a score card to keep track of all the August's and Adolphus's, Sr., Jr., I,II,III,and IV. It shows that TOO much $$$ does not always make a happy life.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loads of St. Louis history woven into this tale, and many surprises about a family who has had a tremendous influence on local history. The famiy's story is pretty compelling all on its own, with plenty of intrigue and drama.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great historical read in general, and about the Busch Family, beer industry specifically.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting...reads like a soap opera. An especially good read for anyone from the St. Louis area.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, so every now and then it is good to read a little family gossip. Well this book was well researched and well done. What a family and what a mess. Not trashy at all.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was excellent. Really entertaining look into the family affairs as well as the business / political aspects of their world. Crazy!

[Eric Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good behind-the-family stories.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique story of the rise of the Anheiuser Busch family and the brewery they created. Plenty of skeletons in that keg.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historical perspective of the Busch family. It jumped around a bit and was sometimes hard to follow. Friends who read Bitter Brew seemed to like it better.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has been updated since the takeover by InBev. The book is long on history, maybe some of it a bit gossipy, but is an unvarnished look at the Busch family dynasty.

[Cheryl Rowland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book about the Busch family. Even though it is an "Unauthorized" story, I felt that it covered the family very well, especially the first, second and third generations.