Fall

Winner of the Costa Biography Award 2021

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Fall

By: John Preston

Narrated by: Simon Bubb

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

WINNER OF THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD 2021
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE 2021
A SUNDAY TIMES AND TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR

A dramatic, gripping account of the rise and fall of the notorious business tycoon Robert Maxwell from the acclaimed author of A Very English Scandal.

Robert Maxwell was a very British success. Born an Orthodox Jew, he escaped the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, fought in the Second World War, and was decorated for his heroism with the Military Cross. He went on to become a Labour MP and an astonishingly successful businessman, owning a number of newspapers and publishing companies. But after his dead body was discovered floating in waters around his superyacht, his empire fell apart as long-hidden debts and unscrupulous dealings came to light. Within a few days, Maxwell was being reviled as the embodiment of greed and corruption.

What went so wrong? How did a man who had once laid such store on the importance of ethics and good behaviour become reduced to a bloated, amoral wreck? In this gripping book, John Preston delivers the definitive account of Maxwell's extraordinary rise and scandalous fall.

'I have a shelf full of books about frauds, but this one is by far the most enjoyable' Craig Brown, author of Ma'am Darling

'The best biography yet of the media magnate Robert Maxwell - by turns engrossing, amusing and appalling' Robert Harris, Sunday Times

'Electrifying... the supreme chronicler of modern British scandals' Mail on Sunday

© John Preston 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Corruption & Misconduct

Organized Crime

Politics & Government

True Crime

Exciting

Thought-Provoking

Suspenseful

Crime

War

Military

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Critic reviews

'This is the best biography yet of the media magnate Robert Maxwell - by turns engrossing, amusing and appalling... it slips down as richly, easily and pleasurably as a tablespoonful of Beluga caviar' (Robert Harris)

'Electrifying... the supreme chronicler of modern British scandals'

'This is such a richly detailed, well-written, gripping biography I wished it could have been twice as long' (Lynn Barber)

'I have a shelf full of books about frauds, but this one is by far the most enjoyable. By turns self-righteous and revolting, Maxwell makes the perfect villain' (Craig Brown)

'Any good biography of a mountebank depicts not only its subject but also the ambivalent society that accommodated the monster. John Preston's Fall does this with deft understatement ... Preston's A Very English Scandal used an almost novelistic eye to revive a well-worn scandal. Fall is equally satisfying' (Quentin Letts)

'An absorbing profile of the war hero turned rogue ... Preston comes to his subject with the advantage both of hindsight and his great skill at exposing hypocrisy and subterfuge ... he has an eye for the telling detail and an ear for the revealing quote'

'There have been many books written about Robert Maxwell, but surely none as pacy, entertaining and jaw-dropping as this one... yes, this is quite a book'

'Preston has written a wonderfully entertaining book and interviewed almost everyone who crossed Maxwell's path in his heyday. He has an eye for comedy and drama and, where he explains his subject's shady and dauntingly complex business dealings, he does so clearly and succinctly'

'Irresistible page-turning pace ... what emerges from Fall is a vividly grotesque picture of the emperor showing off his nonexistent new clothes to an applauding crowd of courtiers - politicians, editors, bankers - who all too willingly suspended any disbelief they may have felt' (Francis Wheen)

'John Preston's book Fall, a recounting of the life of one of the most extraordinary figures in British corporate life, is timely ... almost 30 years since Maxwell died at sea in unexplained circumstances, it is possible to look back on his story and the fraud as a great, sweeping whole, a bridge from the second world war to the last years of the media barons before the internet began ... Preston tells the story well ... its strength is in telling the grand sweep of an extraordinary life'

Most relevant

Preston keeps a light touch throughout allowing the sources to speak for themselves, the real art is in how he marshals these in such a way as to never let the momentum slip. A book truly worthy of its fascinating subject.