Barbieland: The Unauthorized History

“Highbrow, brilliant.” —New York magazine

“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.” —The New York Times

The secret history of Barbie and what Mattel has done to keep her on top.

For 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 wom...