{"product_id":"barbieland-the-unauthorized-history-2","title":"Barbieland: The Unauthorized History","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Highbrow, brilliant.\" --\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003emagazine\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A rollicking tale of how Mattel spied, copied, and stole its way to market dominance, then fought with military intensity to compel us to buy more and more.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe secret history of Barbie and what Mattel has done to keep her on top. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFor nearly seven decades, Mattel billed Barbie as the first adult doll--a revolutionary alternative to the baby dolls before her, which had treated little girls as future mothers rather than future women. But Barbie was no original. She was a knockoff: a nearly identical copy of a German doll now erased from the narrative in favor of Mattel's preferred version of history. It was Barbie's first secret but far from her last. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eBarbieland\u003c\/i\u003e, journalist and \u003ci\u003eThe Drift \u003c\/i\u003eeditor Tarpley Hitt exposes the long-hidden backstory of the world's most famous doll. After snuffing out her predecessor, Barbie climbed to the throne of global girlhood and stayed there, fending off rivals with a mix of strategic marketing, government influence, ruthless litigation, and covert tactics worthy of a classic spy novel. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis lively, authoritative ride through the underbelly of American business pulls back the curtain on the corporate titans, cultural influencers, and toyland rivals who shaped this icon's world--from flawed founder Ruth Handler to convicted Wall Street fraudster (and improbable Barbie savior) Michael Milken to the Bratz doll empire, which once put the brand on life support. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAlong the way, Hitt delves into the stories of the eccentrics and autocrats who brought Barbie to life through sheer force of will: a pair of ex-Nazi toymakers, a toy mogul friend of J. Edgar Hoover's, a swinging missile designer turned Barbie executive married to Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Mattel's mid-century Freudian marketeer, who saw the doll as a psychosexual skeleton key to controlling the American mind. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThrough investigative reporting, global archival research, and interviews with key players from across the Barbie extended universe, \u003ci\u003eBarbieland\u003c\/i\u003e lays bare the unseen--and so often absurd--work that made Mattel a multibillion-dollar business and turned Barbie into an institution: a symbol as synonymous with American soft power as Coca-Cola and McDonald's french fries.","brand":"Tarpley Hitt","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47478446555372,"sku":"9781668031834","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/1791\/3068\/files\/9781668031834.jpg?v=1775556371","url":"https:\/\/intl.allstora.com\/products\/barbieland-the-unauthorized-history-2","provider":"Allstora","version":"1.0","type":"link"}