An "illuminating biography" of the forgotten, tragic genius who founded Time magazine with his friend and fierce rival Henry Luce (The New Yorker).
Friends, collaborators, and childhood rivals, Briton Hadden and Henry R. Luce were not yet twenty-five when they started Time, the first newsmagazine, at the outset of the Roaring Twenties. By age thirty, they were both millionaires, having laid the foundation for a media empire. But their partnership was explosive and their competition ferocious, fueled by envy as well as love. When Hadden died at the age of thirty-one, Luce began to meticulously bury the legacy of the giant he was never able to best.
In this groundbreaking, stylish, and passionate biography, Isaiah Wilner paints a fascinating portrait of Briton Hadden—genius and visionary—and presents the first full account of the birth of Time, while offering a provocative reappraisal of Henry R. Luce, arguably the most significant media figure of the twentieth century.
"A riveting narrative . . . richly detailed . . . part This Side of Paradise, part Citizen Kane." —The Wall Street Journal
"[A] scintillating biography . . . a perceptive psychological study and cultural history, with a touch of ink-stained romanticism." —Publishers Weekly
"With access to the Time archives and unpublished interviews and correspondence, Wilner offers all the excitement of a new media enterprise launched in the Roaring Twenties by two fascinating figures." —Booklist