The life that inspired the major motion picture The Aviator, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Martin Scorsese.
Howard Hughes has always fascinated the public with his mixture of secrecy, dashing lifestyle, and reclusiveness. This is the book that breaks through the image to get at the man. Originally published under the title Empire: The Life, Legend, and Madness of Howard Hughes. 80 photographs
Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Donald Barlett and James Steele of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the finest team of reporters west of The Times of London, herewith present the perfect biography of the weirdest, most fascinating, most god-awful corporate creature you will ever encounter in broad daylight.” (Robert Sherrill - Nation )
“[The authors] have made an impressive use of documents to fashion this longest, most responsible and authoritative biography of Hughes to date.” (Peter S. Prescott - Newsweek )
“Now the full story of the life and death of Howard Hughes has been published, told not as cheap gossip but as a dazzlingly reported, hard-nosed account...[A] fat, beautifully researched book.” (John Justin Smith - Chicago Sun-Times )
“A remarkable job of investigative reporting . . . a ruthlessly probing 688-page blockbuster biography that cracks Hughes's public persona as it disentangles the psychodrama of his private doings—his ties to Nixon and Watergate, his mysterious death, the way the CIA apparently used him to serve its own ends.” (Publishers Weekly )
“By far the soundest, fairest and fullest book we have on the bizarre billionaire who commanded the fortunes of Croesus yet could not command himself. It is the story of a man who had everything—and nothing.” (John Barkham Reviews )
“Of all the books written about Howard Hughes, [this] is easily the best...the first fully documented, crade-to-grave account of a unique American life.” (Ted Morgan - New York Times Book Review )
“[The authors] have made an impressive use of documents to fashion this longest, most responsible and authoritative biography of Hughes to date.” (Peter S. Prescott - Newsweek )
“Now the full story of the life and death of Howard Hughes has been published, told not as cheap gossip but as a dazzlingly reported, hard-nosed account...[A] fat, beautifully researched book.” (John Justin Smith - Chicago Sun-Times )
“A remarkable job of investigative reporting . . . a ruthlessly probing 688-page blockbuster biography that cracks Hughes's public persona as it disentangles the psychodrama of his private doings—his ties to Nixon and Watergate, his mysterious death, the way the CIA apparently used him to serve its own ends.” (Publishers Weekly )
“By far the soundest, fairest and fullest book we have on the bizarre billionaire who commanded the fortunes of Croesus yet could not command himself. It is the story of a man who had everything—and nothing.” (John Barkham Reviews )
“Of all the books written about Howard Hughes, [this] is easily the best...the first fully documented, crade-to-grave account of a unique American life.” (Ted Morgan - New York Times Book Review )
About the Author
Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, Time editors-at-large, are the only journalists in history to win two Pulitzer Prizes and two National Magazine Awards.
James B. Steele and Donald L. Barlett, Time editors-at-large, are the only journalists in history to win two Pulitzer Prizes and two National Magazine Awards.
James B. Steele and Donald L. Barlett, Time editors-at-large, are the only journalists in history to win two Pulitzer Prizes and two National Magazine Awards.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
141 of 146 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Meticulously researched,
By Sophie (California) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness (Paperback)
I've read this book and Peter Brown's book. There is a definite difference. Barlett obviously did his research and it shows for example in the amount of pages devoted to many of Hughes' business transactions (e.g., TWA, Spruce Goose, Vegas properties) - at a certain point, however, I got tired and would skim through these dense passages. I was more interested in Hughes on a personal level and most of the book centered on Hughes in his later years, the misdeeds of his aides/associates, and his intricate business dealings. However, I don't think this detracts much from the overall book which does provide a clear, tragic portrait of this fascinating figure.
If you want a book that emphasazies Hughes' personal life (including more on his earlier years), I would suggest the Peter Brown book. Brown's book was published more recently and contains new information (including a new revelation on Hughes' mental condition) not included in Barlett's.
79 of 85 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unparalleled research on Hughes life.,
This review is from: Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness (Paperback)
Howard Hughes is hot right now. Just like John Nash of "A Beautiful Mind"-fame was a few years ago. The movie "The Aviator" has been nominated for more Oscars than any other. And, after seeing the movie everyone wants to know more about Howard Hughes and attempt to crack the mystery that was his life.
There is no question Hughes' character was mythical. He was part Chuck Yeager, Donald Trump, Hugh Heffner, Steven Spielberg, and a genuine madman all combined in a strikingly handsome 6 foot 4 inches body frame. After reading this book, however, you may find that Hughes was ultimately more successful at creating a myth than anything else. Looking at his private life and business ventures, you will conclude that he was a tragic failure. This book has to be the most detailed biography on Hughes. The authors conducted a Herculean research effort that entailed the examination of a quarter million pages of records and documents, and reproducing over 50,000 pages of them. They traveled to numerous cities in the U.S. and Japan to conduct this research. As a result of this unparalleled research, the authors wrote a tightly written 600 page book in extremely small font. Thus, it is not a quick read. But, it is incredibly informative and fascinating. The scope and the details on Howard Hughes business and legal dealings is extremely thorough. And, you get a real sense of who he was, the way he thought, the way he mismanaged every business enterprises he engaged in. Hughes was obsessive about so many things. In business, he developed a weird set of obsessions that included not paying any taxes, becoming a major airline owner at all costs, becoming an aircraft manufacturer and also a defense contractor at all costs. For him, manufacturing an aircraft for the Department of Defense became a lifelong obsession. Contrary to what the outside World may believe, Hughes was not a brilliant businessman. Much to the contrary, he was really a madman. For every dollar he did not pay or save in taxes, he actually lost a dollar fifty or so. Thus, his various tax schemes were disasters from an after tax return standpoint. He also did not have the organizational, and managerial talent to pull off any of his grandiose obsessions to economic fruition. Hughes would certainly have become much richer being just a regular Trust baby supported by the extraordinary capital generated by the company created by his father, the Hughes Tool Company. The latter made a fortune by developing the most advanced oil drilling head. It became so successful as to become nearly a monopoly throughout the entire worldwide oil industry. This invention created the fortune that financed all of Howard Hughes business fantasies and fiascos. However, if he had done so [just become a Trust baby] he would not have become Howard Hughes and offer us the spectacle of one of the most grandiose, grotesque, and tragic life of modern times. The authors also covers in detail Hughes social life, movie producing years, and his long and irreversible descent into madness. This part is easier reading than the legal business disputes. The psychological profile that emerges is almost unbelievable. The book does an excellent job of debunking several myths about Hughes. One of them is Hughes the world class philanthropist. Indeed, he is known has having given during his lifetime a fortune to medical research. Well during his lifetime, his creation of The Howard Hughes Medical Institute was nothing more than a leveraged lease tax avoidance mechanism. Most of his donations funding this nonprofit entity went back to him in the form of lease payments on properties rented from various Hughes corporations at above market rents by this institute. Nowadays, the IRS never would grant such a research institute any tax-exempt status. In the Appendices, the authors do an excellent job of documenting the cash flows associated with this tax avoidance scheme. Almost, zero % of the donation to this institute went to medical research. At the end of the book, the "Chronology" is an excellent timeline map to get an overview of Hughes life. I found myself referring to it constantly to get my bearings of where was I in this convoluted story. Did he incur his first major mental breakdown before or after his spectacular Congressional hearings where he outwitted and demolished his Congressional nemesis? Amazingly enough, a quick reference to the Chronology confirms that he incurred his mental breakdown before the hearings. Also, the Epilogue is brilliant. It fully captures the essence and drama of this life and provides a coherent thematic summary of this 600 page book. In any case, if you really want to find out more about Hughes this is the book.
25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The real Howard Hughes,
By
This review is from: Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness (Paperback)
Great book, with many great details.
This book will tell you all you really need to know about this great man. The latest movie about Howard Hughes is nothing compared to this book. What was Hollywood thinking when they decided to make this movie? It did not say anything about his Vegas ventures, which was a crucial time in his life. If one knew about his time in the Flamingo hotel, it would have been easy to relate to his crazyness, mentality and thinking. Nothing also was mentioned in the movie about his voyages around the world, which started it all, and his life after his aviation follies. I know the movie was called "The Aviator", but if you did not know anything about Howard before you saw the movie, then all you would think was that he was some crazy aviator who wasted his time building a giant aircraft that was never used for military or commercial purposes, dated a movie star and was always concerned that the US government was out to distroy him. (Well, the government tried really hard!!) Who knows, maybe Airbus engineers had Howard Hughes in mind when they build their latest aircraft, the giant A380. Mr. Hughes will be forever the pioneer who started it all. In this book though,his life and his legacy are well preserved. It is very well written, it tells use about his dramatic life, his eratic lifestyle and behavior, his connections to everything that was going on in the US at the time, and his constant drive for perfection. Hero or not, he was sometimes crazy but also brilliant. If one really wants to know who Howard Hughes really was, all questions will be answered here. This book will tell you everything. Very long but really good read.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
ALL his life, Howard Hughes stood in awe of his father, the tall, handsome, flamboyant man who endowed him with a flair for the dramatic, a love of things mechanical, and one of the great industrial creations of the twentieth century. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
operating memorandum, stockade leader, unidentified aide, inn penthouse, dissident directors, helicopter contract, aircraft division, tool company, special administrator, light observation helicopters, aircraft company, voting trust, flying boat, gaming commission, medical institute, gaming license, rock bit Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Las Vegas, Howard Hughes, Los Angeles, Hughes Aircraft, Hughes Tool Company, Air West, New York, Romaine Street, United States, Bill Gay, Culver City, Miss Henley, White House, Chester Davis, Justice Department, Nadine Henley, Donald Nixon, Hell's Angels, United Press International, Wall Street, Bel Air, Hughes Nevada Operations, Summa Corporation, Noah Dietrich, Wide World Photos New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
ALL his life, Howard Hughes stood in awe of his father, the tall, handsome, flamboyant man who endowed him with a flair for the dramatic, a love of things mechanical, and one of the great industrial creations of the twentieth century. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
operating memorandum, stockade leader, unidentified aide, inn penthouse, dissident directors, helicopter contract, aircraft division, tool company, special administrator, light observation helicopters, aircraft company, voting trust, flying boat, gaming commission, medical institute, gaming license, rock bit Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Las Vegas, Howard Hughes, Los Angeles, Hughes Aircraft, Hughes Tool Company, Air West, New York, Romaine Street, United States, Bill Gay, Culver City, Miss Henley, White House, Chester Davis, Justice Department, Nadine Henley, Donald Nixon, Hell's Angels, United Press International, Wall Street, Bel Air, Hughes Nevada Operations, Summa Corporation, Noah Dietrich, Wide World Photos New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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