A stunning account of one man's relationship with power - its accumulation, consolidation and application - and the most riveting insight yet into Rupert Murdoch's empire.
Rupert Murdoch is one of the most powerful men in the world today. As chief executive of News International, he controls a global media empire which boasts some of the major players in newspapers, television, publishing and the movie business. In the English-speaking world, and increasingly in "untapped" but potentially lucrative markets such as China, he wields an influence as political kingmaker second to none.
How did he do it? How did this empire, a loose "archipelago" of media islands large and small, come to be so successful and influential? Murdoch had something of a head-start in the sense that there was already a family newspaper business to cut his teeth in, courtesy of his father, but the acceleration of growth since the 1960s and '70s has been astounding.
Applying his winning formula of scandal, gossip and sport to tabloids in his native Australia, then the UK and US, before moving into the broadsheet market with his acquisition of 'The Times', Murdoch has continually raised the stakes - and, at the same time, continually extended his reach, both seen and unseen.
Building on many years' research and featuring many previously undisclosed revelations, 'The Murdoch Archipelago' is the most definitive survey yet of Murdoch's life and times; how power flows from influence; and whether this should (or if it can) be regulated.
