Rupert Murdoch: Ringmaster Of The Information Circus By William Shawcross
Rupert Murdoch: Ringmaster Of The Information Circus (First Edition Hardcover Copy)
The Scarce, Definitive Behind-the-Scenes Account of the Global Media Empire’s Wild Rise and Fall
The Scarce, Definitive Behind-the-Scenes Account of the Global Media Empire’s Wild Rise and Fall
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Rupert Murdoch: Ringmaster Of The Information Circus
- Author: William Shawcross
- Publisher: Chatto & Windus Ltd, London
- Publication Date: 1992
- ISBN-10: 0701134518
- ISBN-13: 9780701134518
- Edition Details: First UK Edition, First Printing. Scarce. Standard hardcover release with original unclipped dust jacket.
- Binding: Original publisher's premium cloth boards with crisp gilt-stamped lettering across the spine, complete with structurally sound endpapers.
- Physical Format: Octavo (8vo), 616 pages. Enhanced with detailed family trees tracing the Murdoch lineage, comprehensive maps of global media distribution networks, and central sections featuring rare black-and-white archival photographic plates.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Near Fine (NF) / Mint
- Exterior / Cloth Boards: The cloth casing remains in pristine, near-flawless condition. The structural lines sit perfectly square, the boards are completely flat, and the corners are razor-sharp. The original spine is crisp, rigid, and completely undamaged, showing no shelf-wear, bumping, or reading lean along the edges.
- Interior: The text block is robustly bound, tight, and immaculate. The internal pages show a uniform, natural tanning and browning of the paper edges, which is an entirely standard aging characteristic for this specific 1990s UK paper stock. Internal sheets are entirely intact and free of student highlighting, ink underlines, dealer pencil marks, or dog-ears.
- Provenance: An exemplary archival-grade volume showing no signs of institutional library stamps, previous owner nameplates, or remainder marks.
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The Dust Jacket: Very Good Plus (VG+)
- Condition Details: The original, striking illustrated dust jacket retains high-gloss color contrast. It displays only very limited, microscopic signs of handling and light storage friction along the outer extremities. Completely free of fading, structural tears, or open chips, it is beautifully preserved and protected in a clear, archival Cellophane cover.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Published in 1992, Rupert Murdoch: Ringmaster Of The Information Circus stands as a monumental achievement in corporate and biographical history. Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation empire ended the 1980s saddled with a crushing multi-billion dollar debt the size of Ecuador's and teetering on the absolute verge of total economic catastrophe. Yet, in a spectacular Houdini-like escape, Murdoch survived by buying critical time from international banks, aggressively merging British Sky Broadcasting (Sky) with BSB, and advancing into the 1990s as one of the most powerful media barons the world has ever known.
Acclaimed investigative journalist William Shawcross masterfully balances two narratives: the intimate story of the man himself—his Scottish Presbyterian roots, his Australian newspaper family, and his transformation into a naturalized US citizen controlling print, film, and television empires across three continents—and a brilliant technological analysis of the late-20th-century digital and satellite revolution. It stands as a vital primary document charting how a technologically inept tycoon outmaneuvered global governments to weaponize international news and entertainment into the modern era.
Author Profile: William Shawcross
William Shawcross is a highly distinguished British journalist, broadcaster, and historian. Educated at University College, Oxford, he spent his early career as a foreign correspondent for The Sunday Times, reporting from Southeast Asia and Washington. Shawcross has written numerous internationally acclaimed investigative books, including Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon and the Destruction of Cambodia and the official biography of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. His works are universally praised by critics for their narrative speed, relentless accuracy, and unparalleled access to the highest corridors of global political and financial power.
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