Just Released: Tony Blair’s ‘Journey’ (Video)

Tony Blair’s autobiography, “The Journey,” goes on sale today amid protests over his participation in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. See a preview of the former Prime Minister’s latest work here. (courtesy webcastr.com)

The Sugar King of Havana – The Rise And Fall of Julio Lobo (Penguin Press)

“The Sugar King of Havana – The Rise And Fall of Julio Lobo, Cuba’s Last Tycoon” is an atmospheric exploration of Cuban politics and society in the turbulent years from 1898, when the island gained independence from Spain, through the early days of the Castro revolution and on to the current twilight of that fading system. Author John Paul Rathbone, whose mother was a friend of Lobo’s daughters, interweaves family memories of a privileged life in Old Havana with the dramatic biography of his larger-than-life subject to create a story that is both sweeping and intimately personal.

Julio Lobo’s father was a self-made millionaire who re-located his family to Cuba in 1900 after being forced to leave Venezuela by a revolutionary leader named Cipriano Castro (no relation to Fidel). Sugar trading was rapidly becoming the cornerstone of Cuba’s economy. Young Julio determined to master every aspect of it and master it he did. After managing to survive “The Dance of the Millions”, a bubble market that will have the ring of familiarity for many readers, Lobo began building his empire. In 1934, in a masterpiece of market manipulation, he cornered the New York sugar market, a stunning feat that vaulted him into a position of dominance he held until his assets, along with those of his competitors, were nationalized after the revolution.

It’s a credit to Rathbone’s skill that he’s able to recount Lobo’s business dealings in a way that’s not only lucid but exciting. Nevertheless, he also makes clear that Lobo was complex and cultured, with interests ranging far beyond the mere accumulation of wealth. At one point he owned the largest collection of Napoleonica outside France. He also courted numerous women, including Bette Davis and Joan Fontaine. He was said to have filled one of his swimming pools with perfume when Esther Williams came to visit. At one point, sentenced to death by a pre-Castro government, he was pardoned minutes before facing the firing squad. Later, he survived multiple gunshot wounds from a gangland assassination attempt. Colorful as his life was, Lobo is also portrayed as a modest man, a devoted father, and a generous, progressive-thinking employer. In fact, Che Guevara had such respect for Lobo’s methods that he asked him to serve as the Minister of Sugar in the Castro government. Instead Lobo went into exile, first in New York then in Spain, where he died in 1983.

His biographer suggests that Cuba’s ultimate salvation may life in the emergence of new, modern-day Lobos. But readers of this vivid, evocative history may come away convinced that there will never again be a true Sugar King Of Havana. – David Nichols

‘High Financier’ – Niall Ferguson (Penguin)

Like James McGrath Morris’ recent expansive biography on journalist Joseph Pulitzer, former Oxford and now Harvard professor Niall Ferguson’s well timed portrait of Siegmund Warburg comes as a result of the author’s decade long research and discovery, both through heirs and institutions, of some 10,000 heretofore never released documents and notes about one of Britain’s most preeminent financiers.

Ferguson’s portrayal of this ’scion of one of the great German-Jewish banking dynasties’ reveals a man of high moral turpitude who after his early upbringings and dominant family life in pre-Nazi Germany, expatriated to England to emerge as one of the leading exemplars of economic stability in post-war, post-depression, Britain. In this 548 page volume – complete with archival tree, graphology and extensive notes – Ferguson reveals Warburg to be both mercurial yet oft-times benevolent, moralistic yet powerful, as well as a macro-thinker and part-time psychologist in dealing with the financial affairs of the mid-century British industrial empire and the further concept of European economic integration.

Warburg’s issues in British post-war economic society come exceedingly close to many of the issues of the U.S. domestic economy post-Wall Street meltdown of recent years. For example, after his steerage of the floundering British Aluminum industry via a hostile takeover from Reynolds, Warburg attempted to turn the beleaguered British automotive industry into a free market success, centered around the British-Leyland merger (despite the reversal through both nationalization as well as the eventual sale to foreign owners (Ford) of the revered brands Jaguar, Rover and MG). Next, Warburg found himself being asked to play a lead role in preventing the monopolization of the unstable newspaper business of Fleet Street. Both scenarios have obvious parallels with profoundly similar issues today.

Through it all, Warburg stood not as a person of unusual personality or extreme idiosyncrasies, but as a man of great scope, knowledge and principle; always looking at the big picture and its effect on the economic, and thus political, outlook for Britain and the further European continent. Warburg and his board were weary of speculators and hustlers who were often attempting to corrupt the commerce and private economic system for their own gain; a historical lesson that could prove useful for the investment banking industry on Wall Street today.

With his breakthrough books, including last year’s ‘The Ascent of Money,’ Ferguson is well on his way (along with Ron Chernow) to becoming one of the most authoritative economic history writers of our times. It will be curious to see what his next subject is (rumored to be either Henry Kissinger or another work on the Rothschilds) and where that places him along this continuum.

You can read more on finance and economics from Niall Ferguson here.

Robert Altman – The Oral Biography – Mitchell Zuckoff (Knopf)

Hard to think of a director in Hollywood who’s made more of an impact but got less credit than Bob Altman. After all, his movies like M*A*S*H, Nashville and The Player were never really considered to be box-office blockbusters. Nor was Altman ever honored with a single Oscar for producing or directing, though his films received many nominations throughout the 70’s, 80’s and 90s.

No, Robert Altman was an outcast, a scalawag; a rapscallion of film directors.

That’s what makes his story so great.

In “Robert Altman: The Oral Biography,” author Mitchell Zuckoff captures it all. From Altman’s early days knocking around Kansas City (a place on which he would later base his feature film of the same name) to his war years, his roguish romantic escapades, his eventual landing in California (working for, among others, the legendary Alfred Hitchcock) Zuckoff’s assemblage of the autuer’s story covers all the bases.

As colorful as the oral history is of the director’s early dating and family life, his military service and his career beginnings in both industrial films and, once in Hollywood, television, (‘Combat,’ Whirlybirds,’ etc.) the best portions are reserved for his relationships with the actors he loved and the studio bosses he loathed. When actors would add a line to their dialogue, most film sets expected a visit from the studio brass. When Altman’s actors wanted to add a line, he openly encouraged them to add more. (M*A*S*H’s Sally Kellerman (‘Hot Lips’) practically wrote her way into the whole movie from what was originally slated as a naked shower scene.) In the final analysis, Altman was the master of the ensemble film; his indelible mark comes from the inner workings of the casts he assembled, not necessarily from the stories themselves. As Zuckoff points out in Altman’s own words, he would be the first to admit it.

Along the way, the book regales the reader with stories from all the front line players (as in ‘The Player’) in Altman’s great body of work. Legends like Paul Newman, Bob Evans, Cher (remember her red dress at the black and white ball?) Jimmy Caan, Bobby Duvall, Elliot Gould, Patricia Neal, Richard Zanuck, Meryl Streep, Harry Belafonte, Lily Tomlin, Tim Robbins, Beatty, Becall and others weigh in and reminisce about their (rather detailed) recollections of Bob’s past. The one thing that rises above it all, is that Altman worshiped the actors; always exhorting them to mix it up, speak over each other words, act like in real life. So while he may not have been Hollywood’s most successful director, in many ways, he was perhaps its most authentic.

After his passing in 2008 (and after having finally received an honorary Oscar from the Academy in 2006) Altman needed a book – not on his work, but on the man himself. It is fitting that this oral biography is comprised of many of the same ensemble players that created the Altman oeuvre itself. Well done. Fade.

Mandela: A Biography – Martin Meredith (Public Affairs)

With all the attention bestowed upon South Africa in recent weeks due to the global audience for the World Cup, we thought it to be a good time to spotlight the recent and very comprehensive updated reissue of Martin Meredith’s “Mandela: A Biography.”

Despite an unusually large number of books chronicling the life and struggle of the African continent’s most famous 20th Century leader (including his own 1994 autobiography “Long Walk to Freedom”), Meredith’s work covers perhaps the widest berth of information available on the lawyer turned revolutionary who finally prevailed on reversing years of injustice in the South African nation. Meredith, a Brit, has written extensively on the plight of the African continent – from the diamond mines to Zimbabwe, from Mugabe to the making of South Africa itself.

In “Mandela: A Biography”, Meredith recounts the history of the man alongside the history of the nation. From tales of the nineteen-century Xhosa-speaking peoples, to the rise of African nationalism, to the development of Johannesburg, and the influence of the Communist party, the story of South Africa and the story of Mandela are inextricably intertwined. No detail is left out in following Mandela from life as a barrister to his emergence as an anti-apartheid revolutionary and the way in which his work went on even as he was exiled to a life sentence in prison through his supporters (and the Free Mandela movement) and his wife Winnie Mandela.

A rich combination of stories make up the chapters of Mandela’s own story, from the work of the African Resistance Movement (ARM) to various trials and protests, the actual plight of the many victims of various apartheid laws and conditions and their effect on everything from migrant workers to black-owned businesses, the imprisonment of desenters, to the final settling of differences between the ANC and the government. Even through accusations of Mandela’s own improprieties and the leader’s own divorce, Meredith covers every significant turn with extensive research and attention to detail.

What emerges is a tale, not just of struggle, but of a revolutionary overturning of rampant injustice; the golden age of a ‘rainbow nation,’ yet one that somehow still did not bring justice to all and over time created an opportunity for the emergence of a new black middle class, (as well as an ultimately re-corrupted ANC) while eventually – post-Mandela – reversing course through policies of self-enrichment that resulted in many of the most impoverished still left behind.

Based on both its breadth and research, as well as a very personalized portrait of the man himself, Meredith’s ‘Mandela’ is a well recommended read.

You’ll Never Blue Ball in This Town Again – Heather McDonald (Video)

“Can’t a girl dress like a hooker, dance like a stripper, and kiss like a porn star and still be a nineteen-year-old virgin?” Watch Heather’s new video and find out here.

The Publisher: Henry Luce and His American Century – Alan Brinkley (Knopf)

Alan Brinkley’s historical profile of Time magazine founder, Henry Luce, is as much a history of a titan of industry as it is an overview of the global and political times of what Luce himself referred to as ‘the American Century.’ Brinkley (who has written extensively on FDR and penned a series of American history books known as ‘The Unfinished Nation’) assembles a thorough biography that runs parallel along three distinct tracks.

The first, is the story of a man and his publishing empire, originally founded with his Hotchkiss and Yale student buddy and publishing co-conspirator Brit Hadden (who despite a heavy role in the business, died early in the empire – 1929) and the business machinations of taking a small-time newsweekly and building it into the leading American news magazine empire of the 20th century. (Time, then eventually Life, Fortune and Sports Illustrated).

The second, much like many news publishing scions (from W. R. Hearst to Murdoch) pertains to Luce’s often failed attempts to influence political opinion in his support for both Republican front-runners as well as his desire to shape world events from China’s battle with and eventual yielding to communism (much space in the second half of the book is devoted to Luce’s obsession with Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek and the possibility, and failure of, sustained democracy throughout China – described by Brinkley as “the greatest disappoint of Luce’s life”) to the never-ending quagmire of Vietnam.

The third track involves Luce’s personal life through his two marriages, including his second to the high-profile Claire Booth Luce (nee Brokaw), and his distant and oft-times troubled personal relationships with associates, co-workers and others in his immediate circle.

Brinkley’s portrayal of Luce as a hard-driving, sometimes reclusive, singularly focused media mogul is not unlike stories we hear of other power brokers of the post-industrial world. That the journey his publishing enterprise took him politically, socially and in the halls of power is not surprising given the prominence he was able to amass through his never ending work and mainstream ethos. In the end, and despite other works on the subject, the author renders a throughly detailed and complete assemblage of the story of the most important American magazine publisher of the last 100 years. On many levels it is a story that is well worth absorbing.

See also: TIME: The Illustrated History of the World

When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead – Jerry Weintraub (Twelve Books)

Ok, so he didn’t close Arthur Godfrey. He got Elvis, and Sinatra, and Dylan and Zeppelin. He produced movies ranging from Robert Altman’s ‘Nashville’ to ‘The Karate Kid’ to the star-packed successful remakes of the ‘Oceans’ series (‘Eleven,’ ‘Twelve’ and ‘Thirteen.’) He even counts world leaders like George Bush, Jimmy Carter and the late Armand Hammer his friends.

Meet the real Mr. Showbiz. Meet Jerry Weintraub.

Hard to believe that one man went from being a young New York talent agent to managing some of the biggest acts in the world, to turning the regional live concert business on its ear by becoming a national promoter, to becoming a top Hollywood movie producer and even running his own film studio; Jerry Weintraub is the consummate Hollywood deal maker.

Not since Bernie Brillstein’s book ‘Where Did I Go Right?’ has anyone written a tome of such wonderful showbiz stories as Weintraub has compiled in ‘When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead.’ (In fact, Weintraub was a partner of Brillstein’s in the company Management Three.) While not a complete compendium of every detail of this impresario’s life, ‘Stop Talking’ is filled with the stories of a man who used a combination of naivete, imagination, chutzpah and sheer perseverance to move mountains for himself and his clients to achieve goals that may have seemed impossible – even hours before the show (Elvis in Miami comes to mind.) What emerges is the story of a man who doesn’t see why the whole world can’t be packaged under the banner ‘Jerry Weintraub Presents.’

In looking back, Weintraub seems nearly as stunned today as he did decades ago when he first embarked on many of these adventures. Along the way, Weintraub rubs shoulders and does deals with a who’s who of showbiz royalty; from Lew Wasserman to Walt Disney to Steve Ross to Kirk Krikorian to the modern-day brat pack of George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and countless others, Weintraub has worked with them all.

In the final analysis, Weintraub is a storyteller and these are just some of the incredible stories of his life. An avuncular and fun read, “Stop Talking” is a self-portrait of a man who got to the top through some confluence of determination, luck and alchemy making this volume one kick-ass read.

Kitty Kelly: Oprah’s Got Money, But Not Happiness

The author of the Oprah biography says the billionaire television hostess created the OWN network to find happiness. Does that ring true to you? See what else celebrity power author Kitty Kelly had to say about her newest release here.

The Bridge – David Remnick (Knopf)

You would have to be living under a rock, as they say, not to have noticed New Yorker editor David Remnick making the rounds of the news-talk shows the last few weeks in support of his new book, ‘The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama.’ Remnick has appeared on virtually every show and newspaper column and seemingly for good reason. For as much as there are more Obama books on the market than any first year president in recent memory, ‘The Bridge’ stands out as the one book, save Obama’s own ‘Dreams of My Father,’ that does a deep dive into the political past of the nation’s first African-American president and the decisions, factors and historical touchstones that led him to the top job.

In Remnick’s 656-page volume, the author painstakingly goes back and reassembles the now-president’s life in a way that is both personal and political. Remnick portrays the story of a rapid, albeit sometimes random, journey from student life in Hawaii, to his studies at Occidental and Harvard, through the famed community organizing era and ultimately to elected positions in the Illinois state legislature, the U.S. Senate and on to the presidency. At various points in the book, the author is not afraid to point out some of Obama’s lackluster moments (i.e. his sometimes idle days both at the Davis Miner law firm and later in the Illinois State Senate, his drubbing in his first congressional run, etc.) while continuing to focus on the search for identity that Obama may have lacked in the early years of his youth.

Unlike many of the books on the market, Remnick is not obsessed with the historic presidential part of the story (that is saved for the last quarter of the book) but rather looks closely at Obama’s student years, his time at Harvard including his race for and leadership of the Harvard Law Review, his Chicago community alliances (from Bill Ayers to Chicago Mayor Harold Washington) and much of his work in the Illinois State Senate before coming to Washington. Throughout the book, Remnick is front-of-mind conscious as to how race affected Obama’s journey with repeated references to everyone from MLK to John Lewis to Shirley Chisholm. Remnick’s focus on Obama’s race and the issues it elicits, sometimes seems to be in fact, the focal point of the book. (Even the title ‘The Bridge’ of course, has a double meaning, referring both to Obama as well as a reference to the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama that is often seen as the frontline of the battle for racial equality in March of 1965.)

Besides the voluminous interviews and depth of research involved, the strength of Remnick’s book relies on both it’s rather unvarnished view of the Obama history as well as it’s telling of the story from the point of view of many of those closest to the action. The main criticism that seems to be leveled at the book is it’s dryness; it’s ‘court-reporter’ style – a critique we would certainly not dispute. Of course, there will be many books to come on the first African-American president in U.S. history (Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter’s book ‘The Promise’ debuts next month) but to have this kind of extensive tome delivered so early in one’s presidency is either a gift or a sign of our times. Probably both.

Bonus: Here is a link to a great new Q&A with David Remnick from the Seattle Times. Enjoy.

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