ABSTRACT
Originally published in 1990. The Harmsworth family, starting with Lord Northcliffe (1865-1922) is the greatest and most influential press dynasty Britain has known. The dynasty has had by far the greatest impact on the shape of the press today of all the great press families. The Harmsworths were big, bold characters, enormously rich and with a gift for flamboyant use of their wealth. Much more important though is the way they used their influence on public opinion to steer the country’s political and social life. ‘Public opinion’ was a force that the Harmsworths harnessed before anyone else, and they quickly understood how to use it as a political tool. This book is constructed as four biographies which together make up the central story of the popular press in Britain. Their story continues to have relevance.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |73 pages
Alfred Northcliffe
chapter |16 pages
Origins and Answers
chapter |21 pages
From Magazines to The Times
chapter |22 pages
From 1914 to 1922
chapter |12 pages
Family, Personality, Impact
part |56 pages
Harold Rothermere
chapter |15 pages
The Founder of the Sunday Pictorial
chapter |15 pages
From 1922 to 1929
chapter |14 pages
From 1929 to 1940
chapter |10 pages
Dynasty and Impact
part |66 pages
Esmond Rothermere
chapter |16 pages
From 1898 to 1937
chapter |18 pages
From 1937 to the 1950s
chapter |17 pages
From Coronation Year to 1978
chapter |13 pages
Family, Impact, Personality
part |46 pages
Vere Rothermere