Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell

Author(s): John Preston

Biography

From the bestselling author of A Very English Scandal, the jaw-dropping life story of the notorious business tycoon Robert Maxwell.

In February 1991, the media mogul and former MP Robert Maxwell made a triumphant entrance into Manhattan harbour aboard his yacht, the Lady Ghislaine, to complete his purchase of the ailing New York Daily News. Crowds lined the quayside to watch his arrival, taxi drivers stopped their cabs to shake his hand and children asked for his autograph. But just ten months later, Maxwell disappeared from the same yacht off the Canary Islands, only to be found dead in the water soon afterward.

Maxwell was the embodiment of Britain's post-war boom. Born an Orthodox Jew, he had escaped the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, fought in World War 2, and was decorated for his heroism with the Military Cross. He went on to become a Labour MP and an astonishingly successful businessman, owning a number of newspapers and publishing companies. But on his death, his empire fell apart, as long-hidden debts and unscrupulous dealings came to light. Within a few days, Maxwell was being reviled as the embodiment of greed and corruption. No one had ever fallen so far and so quickly.

What went so wrong? How did a war hero and model of society become reduced to a bloated, amoral wreck? In this gripping book, John Preston delivers the definitive account of Maxwell's extraordinary rise and scandalous fall.

General Information

  • : 9780241388686
  • : Penguin Books, Limited
  • : Penguin UK
  • : 0.368317
  • : August 2021
  • : 2.1 Centimeters X 12.9 Centimeters X 19.8 Centimeters
  • : books

Other Specifications

  • : John Preston
  • : Paperback
  • : 2202
  • : English
  • : 070.5092
  • : 352
  • : BTC

More About The Product

Costa Winner of the 2021 Biography Award

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE 2021

'The best biography yet of the media magnate Robert Maxwell - by turns engrossing, amusing and appalling' Robert Harris, Sunday Times

'Electrifying... the supreme chronicler of modern British scandals' Mail on Sunday


'Preston is a natural storyteller' The Times

John Preston is a former Arts Editor of the Evening Standard and the Sunday Telegraph. For ten years he was the Sunday Telegraph's television critic and one of its chief feature writers. His novel, The Dig, based on the 1939 archaeological excavation at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, has been filmed starring Ralph Fiennes, Carey Mulligan and Lily James. His first nonfiction book, A Very English Scandal, was published to great acclaim in 2016 and turned into BAFTA-winning BBC drama series. His latest book, Fall, tells the story of the rise and fall of the politician and business magnate Robert Maxwell.