Bonfire of the Murdochs

<P>When Rupert Murdoch made a fateful decision about who should inherit his media colossus, he believed that pitting his children against each other would produce the most capable heir. Twenty-five years later, that gamble would tear apart one of the world's most powerful families and trigger a multi-billion dollar reckoning in a succession battle featuring betrayals, lawsuits, and revenge plots.<br><br>In <I>Bonfire of the Murdochs</I>, bestselling author Gabriel Sherman tells the inside story of this epic family war, one whose seeds were planted a half-century ago in Australia when the complicated patriarch left his homeland to conquer the world and please the ghost of his judgmental father. That quest culminated in a media empire that controlled Fox News, <I>The Wall Street Journal</I>, and tabloids on three continents, which wielded more political and cultural power than any single company in modern times.<br><br>But Rupert's plan to rip up the secret trust controlling his empire and anoint his conservative firstborn son Lachlan as successor set him on a collision course with his three more liberal children. What price would Rupert pay to secure his legacy? For the aging patriarch, this would be his final and most personal deal.<br><br>Based on interviews with more than 150 sources, <I>Bonfire of the Murdochs</I> is a richly textured narrative where each child plays their predestined role in a blood feud that explodes in a courtroom showdown. There, Murdoch's children weaponize his own secrets against him. It is a tragedy Shakespeare would have appreciated, where getting everything you want costs everything you love.</P>