Fall: The Mysterious Life and Death of Robert Maxwell, Britain's Most Notorious Media Baron

Written by John Preston

Narrated by Simon Bubb

Winner of the UK’s 2022 Costa Prize for Biography

“A portrait of one of the most enigmatic figures in the annals of white-collar crime. . . . A well-researched, compelling book that uncovers many mysteries about a media tycoon.”—Kirkus Reviews

From the acclaimed author of A Very English Scandal, a thrilling and dramatic true-life account of the rise and fall of one of the most notorious media moguls of all time: Robert Maxwell.

In February 1991, Robert Maxwell triumphantly sailed into Manhattan harbor on his yacht, the Lady Ghislaine, to buy the ailing New York Daily News. Taxi drivers stopped their cabs to shake his hand, children asked for his autograph, and patrons of the hottest restaurant in Manhattan gave him a standing ovation while he dined. Ten months later, Maxwell disappeared off that same yacht in the middle of the night and was later found dead in the water. As John Preston reveals in this entertaining and revealing biography, Maxwell’s death was as mysterious as his remarkable life.

A tightly paced, addictive saga of ambition, hubris, narcissism, greed, power, and intrigue, Fall recounts Maxwell’s rise and fall and rise and fall again. Preston weaves backwards and forwards in time to examine the forces that shaped Maxwell, including his childhood as a Jew in occupied Eastern Europe through his failed political ambitions in the 1960s which ended in accusations of financial double-dealing, and his resurrection as a media mogul--and on to the family legacy he left behind, including his daughter Ghislaine Maxwell. 

Preston chronicles Maxwell’s all-encompassing rivalry with Rupert Murdoch—a battle that ruined Maxwell financially, threatened his sanity and lead, indirectly, to his death. Did Maxwell have a heart attack and fall overboard? Was his death suicide? Or was he murdered—possibly by Mossad or the KGB? Few in the twentieth century journeyed as far from his roots as Robert Maxwell. Yet, as Fall reveals, no one, however rich and powerful, can entirely escape their past. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Feb 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9780062997524

John Preston

John Preston is a former journalist and arts editor of the Sunday Telegraph. He is the bestselling author of six books, the most recent of which, A Very English Scandal, was made into a BAFTA- and Golden Globe Award–winning television series starring Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw. The film adaptation of his novel, The Dig, has been released on Netflix starring Ralph Fiennes, Carey Mulligan, and Lily James.

Reviews for Fall

[lime1234567 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Exceptional piece of work. Maxwell is presented vividly as a complex person, full of contrasts - on one side amazing abilities, on the other nasty behaviours.

[opinionated_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was frankly a bit ashamed of myself for reading this all the way through. It was just so voyeuristic; impossibly large sums of money thrown about, big parties, big deals with dodgy finances, an out of control ego and out of control appetites. This was the part I found most distasteful; if Maxwell had an eating disorder, and it seems very likely he did, then there is no need to revel in it, as the author does. Ok we get it - he raided the fridge and seemingly good never eat his fill. there is no need to indulge in cod psychology about his very poor upbringing being the cause of it. Just report it and move on. I had hoped to learn more about his Czech upbringing and time in the British Army but there's not that much here. Perhaps there is no more that can be known. I was interested in the story of Pergamon Press and found to my surprise that i had a couple of their books in my library. But mainly I came away from this feeling a bit sordid and a bit dirty. The book is reasonably sourced but feels as though it isn't and overall, didn't work for me

[clamato_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Large to say the least and larger than life, this was a roller coaster story of Robert Maxwell. I didn't know much about him prior to this but was interested after his youngest daughter hit the news. What a life, what a liar, what a cheat, what a - you could go on with descriptives but somewhere in that mass he did have a heart and did do some good things but in the end his legacy was bilking employees out of their hard-earned pensions so save his own hide. What a story this was! It was intriguing and at the same time, horrific. A testimony to what power and money do to many people. Now I want to read his wife's book!

[adrianburke_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Listening to this on Radio 4 Book of the Week slot. I was just pulling into Waitrose for the snowy click and collect when I caught the second episode which relates how he shot a German mayor in the head during the war as a punishment for German troops firing on his men after a surrender had been agreed.