Description
Superbhis pages fizz with character and colour Dominic Sandbrook Sunday Times
Scholarly and very readable Andrew Lycett Spectator
Energetic and hugely entertaining ANWilson TLS
The definitive biography of Alfred Harmsworth 1st Viscount Northcliffe the first and greatest press magnate in history and the genius who invented modern popular journalism
The turn of the century was a period when the world was opening up in new and exciting ways radio telegrams the advent of flight With literacy and the right to vote extending across an everexpanding populace politics and journalism were embarking on a power struggle that continues unabated to this day Lord Northcliffe rose to the challenges of this new world by employing cuttingedge technology upending the outdated mores of traditional journalism and radically reshaping the very concept of news
He was a tough and uncompromising businessman frequently levelled with charges of megalomania but in The Chief Andrew Roberts puts Northcliffes ruthlessness in the context of a life of visionary business skill journalistic brilliance distinguished wartime public service and heartfelt patriotism The man was undoubtedly a genius albeit a flawed one From a modest background growing up on the outskirts of Dublin by twentyseven he presided over a magazine empire with the largest circulation in the world By the time of his tragically early death in 1922 Northcliffe had founded the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror and had also owned The Times and the Observer At one point he owned two thirds of all the titles on Fleet Street
Based on exclusive access to the Harmsworth family archive The Chief charts Lord Northcliffes rise to power and his highly controversial influence in a politically critical period His influence still resonates today both through his remarkable business innovations and in the way we consume our news and politics
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