Overview

They were 'Cudlipp' and 'Mr King' when they met in 1935. At 21, gregarious, extrovert and irreverent Hugh Cudlipp had many years of journalistic experience- at 34, shy, introspective and solemn Cecil Harmsworth King, haunted by the ghost of Uncle Alfred, Lord Northcliffe, the great press magnate, and bitter towards Uncle Harold, Lord Rothermere of the Daily Mail, was fighting his way up in the family business. Opposites in most respects, they were complementary in talents and had in common a deep concern for the underdog. Cudlipp, the journalistic genius, and King, the formidable intellect, were to become, in Cudlipp's words, 'the Barnum and Bailey' of Fleet Street; together, on the foundation of the populist Daily Mirror, they created the biggest publishing empire in the world. Their relationship foundered sensationally in 1968, when - as King tried to topple the Prime Minister - Cudlipp toppled King. Through the story of two extraordinary men, Ruth Dudley Edwards gives us a riveting portrait of Fleet Street in its heyday.

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9780436199929

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Reviews

This tale of how two very different men from very different backgrounds met and started a newspaper empire might not, on first view, seem that promising to any but a handful of interested parties. Fortunately, Ruth Dudley Edwards, who divides her time as a writer between publishing-related biographies (Victor Gollancz, the Economist) and crime novels, has sufficient nous to make this somewhat hermetic tale accessible to a wider readership. Hugh Cudlipp and Cecil Harmsworth King met in 1935. At 21, the gregarious Cudlipp already had many years of journalistic experience under his belt. 13 years older, the shy, introspective King was struggling to emerge from the shadow of his two famous uncles, the press barons Northcliffe and Rothermere. Opposites in many respects, Cudlipp and King were complementary in talents and shared a surprising concern for the underdog. Building on the foundations of the populist Daily Mirror, they created the biggest publishing empire in the world, but their always tetchy relationship foundered sensationally in 1968 when King, drunk on his power as a newspaperman, tried to topple the Wilson government, and found himself toppled by Cudlipp. In effect, this is a kind of parallel history of pre- and post-war Britain as seen through the press - or rather, the men who ran the press. It occasionally betrays the close relationship Edwards has with the wives and families of the deceased, and indulges a certain amount of self-mythologising through the limited-interest anecdotes so beloved of journalists (and politicians), yet it also contains some fascinating insights - not least the political shenanigans of King, who, when not preparing to overthrow Harold Wilson, was acting as an intermediary for both Ian Paisley and the IRA, boasting that he had Ted Heath's ear (which he did, up to a point). Above all, it recaptures a time and place - the old days of Fleet Street, the glory years of the Daily Mirror, which are, alas, receding fast from our memory. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Ruth Dudley Edwards is an historian, journalist and crime writer. Her non-fiction includes Victor Gollancz- a Biography (winner of the James Tate Black Memorial Prize), The Pursuit of Reason- The Economist, 1843-1993 and The Faithful Tribe- an intimate portrait of the loyal institutions; her nine crime novels are satires on the British Establishment.

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