Citizen Hearst: A Biography of William Randolph Hearst

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Very Good with no dust jacket. 1961. 1. Hard Cover. Publisher's full black cloth, red lettering on gilt stripe on cover, red and gilt lettering on red and gilt panel on spine, t.e.g. (black). Illustrated with sixteen pages of B&W photographs. William Andrew Swanberg (1907-1992) was an American biographer. He may be known best for "Citizen Hearst, a biography of William Randolph Hearst," which was recommended by the Pulitzer Prize board in 1962 but overturned by the trustees of Columbia University apparently because they thought that Hearst was not dignified enough to be the subject of the award. He won the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for his 1972 biography of Henry Luce, and the National Book Award in 1977 for his 1976 biography of Norman Thomas. "This careful biography of William Randolph Hearst does more to clarify that man, and the "yellow journalism" he started, than anything written to date. From his birth in 1863 to fabulously wealthy parents to his assumption of control of the San Francisco Examiner, then the New York Journal, to his intervention in the Cuban situation which led to the Spanish-American War, to his political intrigues, fights with Joseph Pulitzer, and screaming anti-trust clash, the story is as rich a slice of Americana as one could find. This man who built a castle at San Simeon, with his 30 automobiles, a flying field, and a zoo attached, is treated to a most penetrating analysis. How Hearst finally fell from power, gradually declining until his death in 1951, becomes a study of changing American attitudes. Exciting, with real sense of character, and always aided by an underlying sense of American history." - Kirkus. Corners bumped and lightly worn, head and heel of spine mildly worn, very small tear in cloth binding near head of spine, some light rubbing to boards, a couple small, dark stains on fore-edge, else fine. VERY GOOD.. Large 8vo 9" - 10" tall. (xvi), (i), 555 pp .