Spotlighting the career of William, Jr., this fascinating memoir--one that holds a mirror up to the "American Century" and an unforgettable family who did so much to define it--tells the extraordinary story of the Hearsts and their empire. More than 100 photographs.

A decadeslong collaboration between publisher William Randolph Hearst and architect Julia Morgan produced the formal terraces, swimming pools, and plants and sculptures that occupy the 120 acres of gardens and 450 square miles of coastland of San Simeon, now a California State Park. Their extensive correspondence reveals a captivating working relationship with shared concerns over every aspect of the enormous project. Hearst Castle historian Kastner's (Hearst Castle: The Biography of a Country House) biography of a man and of an estate is also a social study of the periodthe famous and infamous Hollywood figures who peopled the house and its grounds, the lavish lifestyle, and the mythical tales about its owner. The superb photos by Garagliano, photographer at San Simeon since 1994, capture some of the elegant views, the vast array of buildings, and the myriad details. This work of visual delight should whet the appetite for a visit to the real thing.Paula Frosch, Metropolitan Museum of Art Lib., New York Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The definitive and “utterly absorbing” biography of America’s first news media baron based on newly released private and business documents (Vanity Fair). William Randolph Hearst, known to his staff as the Chief, was a brilliant business strategist and a man of prodigious appetites. By the 1930s, he controlled the largest publishing empire in the United States, including twenty-eight newspapers, the Cosmopolitan Picture Studio, radio stations, and thirteen magazines. He quickly learned how to use this media stronghold to achieve unprecedented political power. The son of a gold miner, Hearst underwent a public metamorphosis from Harvard dropout to political kingmaker; from outspoken populist to opponent of the New Deal; and from citizen to congressman. In The Chief, David Nasaw presents an intimate portrait of the man famously characterized in the classic film Citizen Kane. With unprecedented access to Hearst’s personal and business papers, Nasaw details Heart’s relationship with his wife Millicent and his romance with Marion Davies; his interactions with Hitler, Mussolini, Churchill, and every American president from Grover Cleveland to Franklin Roosevelt; and his acquaintance with movie giants such as Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner, and Irving Thalberg. An “absorbing, sympathetic portrait of an American original,” The Chief sheds light on the private life of a very public man (Chicago Tribune).

William Randolph Hearst was a figure of Shakespearean proportions, a man of huge ambition, inflexible will, and inexhaustible energy. He revolutionized the newspaper industry in America, becoming the most powerful media mogul the world had ever seen, and in the process earned himself the title of "most hated man in America" on four different occasions. Now in the second volume of this sweeping biography, Ben Procter gives readers a vivid portrait of the final 40 years of Hearst's life. Drawing on previously unavailable letters and manuscripts, and quoting generously from Hearst's own editorials, Procter covers all aspects of Hearst's career: his journalistic innovations, his impassioned patriotism, his fierce belief in "Government by Newspaper," his frustrated political aspirations, profligate spending and voracious art collecting, the building of his castle at San Simeon, and his tumultuous Hollywood years. The book offers new insight into Hearst's bitter and highly public quarrels with Al Smith (who referred to Hearst papers as "Mudgutter Gazettes") and FDR (whose New Deal Hearst dubbed the "Raw Deal"); his 30-year affair with the actress Marion Davies (and her own affairs with others); his political evolution from a progressive trust-buster and "America first" isolationist to an increasingly conservative and at times hysterical anti-communist. Procter also explores Hearst's ill-considered meeting with Hitler, his attempts to suppress "Citizen Kane," and his relationships with Joseph Kennedy, Charles Lindbergh, Louis B. Meyer, and many other major figures of his time. As Life magazine noted, Hearst newspapers were a "one-man fireworks display"--sensational, controversial, informative, and always entertaining. In Ben Procter's fascinating biography, Hearst shines forth in all his eccentric and egocentric glory.

Describes how the newspaper publisher established the forerunner of the tabloid by emphasizing sensationalism and lowering journalistic standards.

This is the enthralling and often outrageous story of America's most enigmatic millionnaire, William Randolph Hearst. The most powerful newspaper mogul for more than a half century was one of the most mysterious and fascinating characters in this country's history. 42 photos.