Customer Reviews

Luce and His Empire

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To some extent this book is a character assassination of Luce and his magazine. There is justification in this - Luce constantly promoted Chiang Kai Shek when his own reporters were writing about his corruption and his incompetence in military affairs. The stories would be re-written in New York to promote and reflect Luce's views. The author also points out that Luce was obsessed in forming an American-Christian Asia onto his publications and onto the U.S. government with dire consequences. Chiang and his wife became rich from U.S. handouts. Luce again pressured and encouraged U.S. involvement in Vietnam because he did not want Vietnam to become another China. In this as well, he would over-write the stories that his reporters were sending from Saigon. Several reporters left Time on account of this. His intense hatred of atheistic communism was reflected as well in his publications.

But it is hard not to respect Luce the man. He basically invented the weekly newsmagazine. He started from nothing and created an empire. He hired young writers with little experience in journalism. As Mr. Swanberg points out he was a micro-manager and controlled all details of his magazines. He was a ruthless manager putting his nose into everything. Luce lacked the common touch -which is surprising given his incessant curiosity. He traveled the world several times over, but was not one to mingle with the `people' - his quest was to talk with the rich and powerful. He treated waiters and his house-servants with disdain (the Luce household had trouble keeping their servants).

Another aspect that comes through in this book is how, since the turn of the century (the 1920's), journalism has become a powerful force in the shaping of opinion and culture in the modern era. Prior to this, was it just political soapboxes shaping public opinion? With the advent of television the force of media has increased. It can be viewed as an unelected political party shaping our views.

What is missing from Mr. Swanberg's book is the U.S. - there is nothing mentioned about `Time' or Luce's opinion on the emerging Civil Rights movement in the 1950's. Not one word of Time's coverage of the Kennedy assassination - certainly the epochal event of the post World War II era.

A hard assessment of a less than lovable couple - Harry and Clare.Well written, researched in detail, the author portrays Harry Luce's business accumen as well as his drive for power, desire for association with royalty, aristocracy and tycoons of all colors - often lacking in good judgment as to heroes or villains. What started as a business enterprise developed into a propaganda tool for the Editor's
opinions and beliefs - with hundreds of possibly otherwise talented writers and reporters toeing the line of the boss.The resulting influence on public opinion and the government proved disastrous in relations with China, prevented recognition of the dangers of the Nazi regime and fascism in Italy.

... and this one won the Pulitzer. It's 677 pages but so good I wished it were 500 pages longer. An eye-opener regarding how the United States got to where it is today in foreign relations with Asian countries, but also how terrible the power of the press can be when controlled by a would-be far-right fascist like Luce. What we thought was news was really Luce propaganda in Time Magazine and his other mass publications. Makes you question what we're reading, or viewing, today!

Although W.A. Swanberg does an admirable job of managing to write over 500 pages about Henry Luce, the man was naive, unpleasant and rude. The writing is decent, though not particularly engaging, and the story is hardly worth your time. If you enjoy "Time Magazine" and don't want your opinion marred, and if you are not one to appreciate Fascists and people who are too idealist to accept Mao after the fall of Chiang Kai-Shek, I'd stay away. If you are a Fascist with a lot of time on your hands, I would strongly recommend this book.