The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst

More than a century ago, a young William Randolph Hearst stormed the Manhattan publishing establishment and usurped Joseph Pulitzer as the dominant force in the most hotly contested newspaper market the world has ever seen. In three years, Hearst built the foundation of one of America's greatest media empires, yet his reputation as a journalist has always been haunted by allegations of sensationalism, self-promotion, warmongering, and outright fakery. In this major re-estimation of Hearst's early years at his New York Journal, renowned newspaper editor and magazine publisher Kenneth Whyte brings to life the early career of the world's first great media mogul. His lively, riveting, page-turning recreation of Hearst's New York years reveals a progressive young man of high ideals and huge ambition: hardly the Citizen Kane of popular imagination. Bursting with larger-than-life personalities, The Uncrowned King is a provocative addition to the shelf of great books of popular social history—one that will change forever the way we remember one of the most powerful and fascinating citizens of the twentieth century.