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Based on Maxwell and Murdoch, The Fourth Estate is the story of two men who, though they come from totally different backgrounds, stand face-to-face on the highest precipice, prepared to risk everything to beat each other and control the biggest media empire in the world.
Lubji Hoch survived World War II on luck, guts, and ruthlessness. At the war’s end, renamed Richard Armstrong, he buys a floundering newspaper in Berlin and deviously puts his competitors out of business. But it isn’t enough. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Keith Townsend, the Oxford-educated son of a millionaire newspaper owner, takes over his family’s business. His energy and brilliant strategic thinking quickly make him the leading newspaper publisher in Australia. Still, he longs to move on to the world stage.
As both Armstrong and Townsend seize control of everything they see, their ambitions collide on a global scale. But suddenly they both find themselves threatened by financial disaster and enormous debt. Frantic to save his crumbling empire, each man turns desperate.
Jeffrey often bases his protagonists on real people. In this instance, the rival newspaper magnates were modelled on the late Robert Maxwell and Rupert Murdoch.
Jeffrey talks about The Fourth Estate.