Fall

December 21, 2020
Preston (A Very English Scandal: Sex, Lies and a Murder Plot in the Houses of Parliament) takes a detailed look at the mysterious 1991 death of media mogul Robert Maxwell in this tepid outing. Maxwell was born Ludvik Hoch in 1923 to an impoverished Jewish family in Czechoslovakia. In 1939, he left his parents and siblings to fight the Nazis, linking up with the British army in 1940 and earning a Military Cross. After WWII, Maxwell became a book publisher, a Labour MP, and eventually a newspaper owner, culminating in his 1991 purchase of the New York Daily News. A bully with a reputation for shady dealing, Maxwell formed a close connection with the Israeli government, leading to reports he was an Israeli spy. Not long after millions from Maxwell’s business went missing, he took his yacht to the Canary Islands, only to later be found dead in the water. Maxwell’s checkered past, his financial troubles, and a substandard autopsy fostered suspicions that he’d either been murdered or took his own life, despite evidence suggesting his death was accidental. Uneven sourcing is a minus, and the quality of prose does nothing to enhance what amounts to the story of a rich bully that’s been told before. Readers hoping for a new take on Maxwell will be disappointed. Agent: Natasha Fairweather, RCW Literary.

January 1, 2021

Journalist Preston (A Very English Scandal) seeks to understand Robert Maxwell's (1923-91) meteoric rise and scandalous fall. Maxwell escaped German-occupied Czechoslovakia and fled to France, became a medal-earning World War II hero and publisher, and served as a member of Parliament in the United Kingdom. Though dogged by rumors of fraud, he nevertheless expanded his empire, which culminated in his 1991 purchase of the New York Daily News. To great fanfare, Maxwell arrived in New York harbor in his yacht and publicly addressed the city. Less than a year later, while sailing on that yacht in the Canary Islands, Maxwell was found dead in the water. The unscrupulous nature of his business dealings was illuminated, deepening the mystery of his demise. Preston paints an engaging, balanced portrait, chronicling the lingering impact of the notorious businessman's death on his family, including daughter Ghislaine Maxwell. Theories ranging from suicide to a KGB hit are posited, but the author notes that investigators may never determine the cause of death. VERDICT Preston's prose is compelling, and the mystery of this larger-than-life figure is perplexing--true crime aficionados will be absorbed.--Mattie Cook, Flat River Community Lib., MI

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2021
A portrait of one of the most enigmatic figures in the annals of white-collar crime. Preston uses his adroit reporting skills to investigate the life of British media mogul Robert Maxwell (1923-1991). Born Jan Ludwig Hoch to Jewish parents in Czechoslovakia, Maxwell was barely out of his teens when he was forced to endure the deaths of his parents, grandfather, and three of his siblings at Auschwitz. These experiences contributed to his considerable paranoia; years later, he would bug his office and those of his employees at the headquarters of his company. Preston explores these and other unethical business practices, including Maxwell's use of company funds for personal reasons. As he constructed his business empire, he gained influence and power, and he became a Member of Parliament for Buckingham in 1964. He hobnobbed with Donald Trump and other flashy big names, and he collaborated with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Preston devotes substantial attention to Maxwell's competition with Rupert Murdoch, chronicling Murdoch's takeover of News of the World and the tabloid battles in New York. Murdoch purchased the New York Post in 1976. Following his purchase of the New York Daily News in 1991, Maxwell forced the publisher to call Murdoch and tell him, "Mr. Murdoch, Bob Maxwell would like you to know that he's just bought the New York Daily News." After moving through the major events of his life, the author digs in to the shadowy circumstances surrounding his death. In early November 1991, while on vacation near the Canary Islands, the burly man fell off--or was pushed off--his yacht, the Lady Ghislaine, named after his now-infamous daughter. After his death, investigators discovered that he had purloined at least 763,000,00 pounds from his firms. Crimes of that magnitude make people do crazy things, so perhaps Maxwell was murdered. Preston examines this scenario in addition to accidental drowning and suicide. A well-researched, compelling book that uncovers many mysteries about a media tycoon.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 1, 2021
During the mid-twentieth century, two names dominated high-stakes publishing--Rupert Murdoch and Robert Maxwell--and while it's hard to imagine Murdoch being the more circumspect of the two, he actually did take a back seat to Maxwell when it came to flamboyance and ostentation. Born in Czechoslovakia, Maxwell survived the Holocaust and navigated World War II by dint of grit, determination, and cutthroat tendencies that later manifested themselves throughout a life in England as a media mogul, member of Parliament, and practitioner of fraud and other unsavory practices, a career that was by turns heroic, hedonistic, and highly suspect financially and ethically. Maxwell was a man of prodigious appetites, not only for food, but for fame, money, and power. Through guile, good timing, and chicanery, Maxwell built a media conglomerate worth billions and yet, at the time of his mysterious death at sea in 1991, his empire was crumbling under colossal debts and legal threats. British journalist Preston paints a lively portrait of the success and destruction of one of the publishing industry's most ruthless competitors and reviled charlatans.

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