Superb...his pages fizz with character and colour'Dominic Sandbrook,Sunday Times'Scholarly and very readable'Andrew Lycett,Spectator'Energetic and hugely entertaining'A.N.Wilson,TLS A definitive and compelling biography of Alfred Harmsworth,1st Viscount Northcliffe (1865-1922),the greatest press magnate in history,the genius who invented modern popular journalism,and against whom all the other great newspaper proprietors must be measured. By the time of his tragically early death at 57 in August 1922,Northcliffe had founded the Daily Mailand Daily Mirror,and had also owned The Times and theObserver. At one point he owned two-thirds of all the titles on Fleet Street. He laid down the essential features of British popular journalism that we see now. He was a tough and uncompromising businessman,but in The Chief Andrew Roberts puts his ruthlessness and wilfulness in the overall context of a life of visionary business skill,journalistic brilliance,distinguished wartime public service and heartfelt patriotism. From a modest background,growing up on the outskirts of Dublin,by 27 hepresided over a magazine empire with the largest circulation in the world.He wanted his readers to know that he was on their side,which they instinctively did. He was proud of his populist approach,saw the importance of appealing to both sexes in his pages,and allowed his editors leeway so long as they understood and followed his vision. The formula he created for the Daily Mail is still world-beating to this day.Based on exclusive access to the Harmsworth family archive,The Chief is a compelling and essential portrait of a man who changed the way we learn about the news,and whose influence still resonates today.
MEDIA REVIEWS
Publisher: Simon & Schuster LtdISBN: 9781398508712Number of pages: 560Dimensions: 198 x 130 x 34 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Roberts does a superb job of bringing (Northcliffe's story) alive...His pages fizz with character and colour...but at their heart is Northcliffe himself: charismatic,swashbuckling,admirable and appalling.His book is littered with affairs,tantrums and tirades,all of which add considerably to its attractions... Some of the most memorable scenes come in the early 1920s,as Northcliffe succumbs to all-out megalomania.''With an experienced historian's use of contemporary documents,Roberts makes Northcliffe's eventful life a panoramic account of his times... (a)restrained,scholarly and very readable book.''Lord Northcliffe...was the daddy of all press barons...classless,dynamic and fearless. This compelling biography...leaves you exhausted by the sheer work that bred success. Northcliffe had his faults...but what an exciting man he must have been to work for.''The way Roberts persuasively tells it,not only did Northcliffe establish the template for British journalism ever since,but he also did much to win the First World War. You do finish The Chief utterly open-mouthed at all that Northcliffe got done in his 57 years.'Towards the end ofThe Chief,his keenly researched biography of Lord Northcliffe,theDaily Mailfounder and "Britain's greatest press baron",the historian Andrew Roberts observes: "Great men are seldom nice men."...there's no question that Northcliffe wasindeedan exceptional character... His last months were spent in a state of delirium that manifested as extreme megalomania.''Long before Rupert Murdoch,there was Alfred Harmsworth. The original and probably the greatest UK press baron...the man who styled himself "the Chief"set a tone and style for popular newspapers that still prevails today. Roberts is keen to dispel myths of megalomania,until Harmsworth's final short illness destroys his mind... While mostly friendly,the author is critical at times and unsparing about Harmsworth's zealous anti-Semitism. It's a pacy and enjoyable read.''Reading this energetic and hugely entertaining biography,you are trapped on a carousel in an insane fairground,whizzing round and round inside the head of "the Chief". What hits you again and again is the absolute randomness of his inspired,sometimes loathsome,obsessions.''Lord Northcliffe -founder of theDaily Mail,inventor of tabloid journalism,the most significant media innovator of the early 20thcentury -ended up in Hell... This has long been the highbrow take on Northcliffe.Shovelling information and entertainment was Northcliffe's business model. His conjuror's trick was simple: give as many people as possible what they want. It is the megalomaniac perception of Northcliffe that Andrew Roberts seeks to rebut in a new and sympathetic biography.(Rupert Murdoch)took Northcliffe's principles and dialled them up.''This intriguing biography...is sympathetic to its subject,Roberts does not gloss over the darker side of Harmsworth's life and his foibles: his anti-Semitism,his quirky prejudices and his eventual descent into madness.Northcliffe died 100 years ago,and his legacy was the British popular press as we know it.'
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