Citizen Hughes : The Power, the Money and the Madness [Paperback]

Michael Drosnin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2, 2004

Portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in the Martin Scorsese movie The Aviator, Howard Hughes is legendary as a playboy and pilot—but he is notorious for what he became: the ultimate mystery man. Citizen Hughes is the New York Times bestselling exposé of Hughes’s hidden life, and a stunning revelation of his “megalomaniac empire in the emperor’s own words” (Newsweek).

At the height of his wealth, power, and invisibility, the world’s richest and most secretive man kept what amounted to a diary. The billionaire commanded his empire by correspondence, scrawling thousands of handwritten memos to unseen henchmen. It was the only time Howard Hughes risked writing down his orders, plans, thoughts, fears, and desires. Hughes claimed the papers were so sensitive—“the very most confidential, almost sacred information as to my innermost activities”—that not even his most trusted aides or executives were allowed to keep the messages he sent them. But in the early-morning hours of June 5, 1974, unknown burglars staged a daring break-in at Hughes’s supposedly impregnable headquarters and escaped with all the confidential files. Despite a top-secret FBI investigation and a million-dollar CIA buyback bid, none of the stolen secret papers were ever found—until investigative reporter Michael Drosnin cracked the case.
In Citizen Hughes, Drosnin reveals the true story of the great Hughes heist—and of the real Howard Hughes. Based on nearly ten thousand never-before-published documents, more than three thousand in Hughes’s own handwriting, Citizen Hughes is far more than a biography, or even an unwilling autobiography. It is a startling record of the secret history of our times.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A story of breadth and depth, scope and flavor . . . A terrifying portrait of power gone berserk.” —Chicago Tribune

“Reveals a Howard Hughes who is far more evil than we might have known before.” —New York Times

“Direct access to the mind of a callous and frightened man.”
—Time

“Sensational: one of the best 'truth is stranger than fiction' stories of all time.”
—Liz Smith

“Remarkable . . . the mysterious Howard Hughes is exposed in his own strident memos.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

About the Author

MICHAEL DROSNIN, a former reporter for The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, is also the author of two other New York Times bestsellers, The Bible Code and Bible Code II: The Countdown. He spent seven years researching and writing this classic account of power gone mad. Drosnin lives and works in New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; First Edition edition (November 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767919343
• ISBN-13: 978-0767919340
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.2 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #364,599 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( H ) > Hughes, Howard

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, January 15, 2005

By 

George M. Kozak (North Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Citizen Hughes : The Power, the Money and the Madness (Paperback)

I read the hard cover version of this book in the 80s. I haven't read the latest paperback version here that has been re-released to capitalize on the Hughes biopic "The Aviator." This book picks up where "The Aviator" leaves off and therefore is primarily concerned with the time Howard Hughes lived as a recluse at The Desert Inn in Las Vegas. It was supposedly derived from thousands of notes written in Hughes' own hand. It is an amazing window into the mind of an eccentric (insane?) but brilliant man. The book is full of other gems as well, including details about how Hughes' people were involved in the CIA plot to kill Castro. The first hand reports of LBJ's cynical and self-serving support of the civil rights movement were especially interesting. I would highly recommend this book, as long as the content hasn't changed from the previous edition.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hughes the Enigma, February 6, 2005

By 

Herbert C. Kunz "Herb Kunz" (Hot Springs Village, Arkansas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Citizen Hughes : The Power, the Money and the Madness (Paperback)

Michael Drosnin goes deep into the bowels of the Hughes empire and as a bonus, the deepest pathway into the Washington power elite. (Is there really and honest person in Washington?)Drosnin's technique for skipping back and forth through time was cleverly done through blending the characters names and incidences with subtle reminders. There are many names to remember and in the beginning I thought I may be "screwed" to remember all of them. But this was not the case. This read left me with truly ambivalent feelings for several characters but most of all Hughes. His total waste of his brain power through drugs and isolation and still his remarkable ability to be lucid when demanded of him is insight to the genius he once was. I wish I read this book when it was first published.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Citizen Hughes, December 5, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Citizen Hughes : The Power, the Money and the Madness (Paperback)

A non-stop page turner! Since the seriousness of Drosnin's literary efforts are suspect [given his other works e.g. his bible code books; which should be interpreted for what they are - commercial entertainment - instead of some apocalyptic revelation beyond silliness], I don't know if his "facts" are accurate, but what a great read! Immensely entertaining!