The story of the Busch family and the rise and fall of the Anheuser-Busch brewery is an interesting one. Covered in great detail in both Dethroning The King and Bitter Brew, this story is one that many know parts of but the personal details are less public than simply the stories of the sale of the US’ largest brewer to the international buyer InBev. While Dethroning The King and Bitter Brew focus on the whole story of both the Anheuser-Busch brewery and the family behind the icon, The Prince Of Beers is a picture of what happened to August Busch IV after the sale of his family’s brewery and his role as CEO of the company at the time.
The Fourth never had a chance. He was only in the CEO seat for a short time and it seems every move he tried to make was blocked by his father who still resided on Budweiser’s board after his retirement from the CEO spot. The Prince of Beers looks at what happened to The Fourth after the sale of the company and the fall into nothingness from one of the best known icons in the country. This book is short and lacks the detail found in other books on the Busch family but being published more recently than the others, it shows where things have ended up now, years after the companies sale. A man that most believe has gotten away with 2 murders in his lifetime and had plenty of free passes thanks to a family fortune has been left with little to live for.
While those looking for a history focusing more on the company itself will enjoy Dethroning The King and those looking for a history of the company with more focus on the family will find Bitter Brew a good choice, anyone looking for a quick tale of how this once mighty family has fallen should checkout The Prince Of Beers. Many of the details found in this read aren’t present in the other two books although those details are ones that came along after the publishing of both of the other books. For it’s small cost, this book offers an interesting look at where The Fourth is now and what happened after the hostile takeover of Anheuser-Busch. Buy The Prince Of Beers now, here on Amazon (free for Amazon Prime members).