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.

Fall

The main event is manslaughter. Someone wanted to overthrow the government of San Sebastian, a country whose tiny army, nonaligned status, and location on the deadly curve of Central America made it ripe for subversion. The first try was an attempted hit on its president on a crowded street in Washington. The second was an invasion from the sea. Both times the Black Berets were there to keep the worst from happening. But how long could five men and one boy hold out against an army of the world’s most skilled assassins? An army with limitless resources—and the patience to keep on killing?

The Black Berets

The Death Machine Contract

The Black Berets have met the enemy—and he lives next door! Letting a struggling Chicano gas company run its pipeline across their Louisiana land struck the Black Berets as a good idea—especially once Cowboy got an eyeball on Isabella Cifuentes, its stunning, sultry president. But the contract, it seemed, contained some very fine and lethal print. A Texas oil magnate allied with a fanatical right-wing cult had made an unholy alliance to keep the territory free of Mexicans and competition—even if it meant taking his grievance to the people next door. But when your neighbors happen to be a quintet of renegade warriors, your backyard may become a burying ground … and the bone you came to pick may just turn out to be your own!

Louisiana Firestorm

Less than one hundred miles off the coast of Florida sits a tiny Caribbean island so innocuous that no one with grand nefarious plans would spare it a second glance. Or would they? Key Isabella might be small, but it has become a hub for the drug trade into the United States. For the Black Berets—the world’s fiercest mercenaries—the issue of a billion-dollar heroin smuggling operation hits a sore spot they can’t ignore. Arriving in the West Indies, the five-man team of American heroes is tasked with overthrowing Key Isabella’s evil dictator without anyone finding out they’re involved. To make matters more difficult, they soon bump into the additional problem of a police force just as violent and corrupt as the nation’s tyrannical leader.

Blue Water Contract

The Black Berets have fought for their country, for money, and for thrills … now they’re fighting for cold vengeance, as the classic series of wartime adventure continues. They’d survived everything the Vietcong could throw at them. Now they’d throw it back … at the American renegade who’d betrayed them. The Black Berets had to hand it to Parkes, their former CIA case officer. First he’d sent them on a suicide mission to Vietnam. Then he’d sent some CIA hit men to finish them off when the enemy couldn’t. And the moment they set foot stateside, the world’s meanest mercenaries found that Parkes had arranged another lethal welcome. Well, they’d never liked Parkes much. But how were they going to tell him? First they had to find him, and that would take Beeker, Rosie, Cowboy, Harry, and Marty, from the bayous of Louisiana to an academy of terror in the Libyan desert, where they’d get a chance to say just what they had in mind—with bullets and a body bag.

Cold Vengeance

Five nuclear bombs are in the hands of an unidentified madman somewhere in the Sahara. Or so the Black Berets have been led to believe. When a bloody raid in Libya turns up nothing but a camp of terrorists who know nothing about any bombs, the elite American fighters find themselves ordered to Portugal to follow up a new lead. Once there, they learn every undercover agent from every country working in Portugal has been taken out of play, leaving the door wide open for staging an apocalyptic attack. If the Black Berets fail to locate the bombs and take out the merciless cabal that stole them, it could mean the end of the world as they know it. For these five warriors, the stakes have never been higher.

Contract: Terror Summit

The Black Berets are the world’s best hope … India is a country divided, torn by religious strife and hounded by potential invaders on all sides. The world’s most powerful governments believe that whoever controls India holds the strategic advantage for global domination. As the chaos spins out of control, a name resurfaces after centuries of obscurity: Akbar. Once a religious zealot who created his own dominant religion in the region, Akbar has returned, if not in body, then at least in spirit. Beeker, the leader of the fearsome Black Berets, wants nothing to do with a tangle of religious fanatics—until he learns they’ve stolen two atomic bombs they intend to use in their new holy war. Suddenly the mission’s far-reaching, devastating implications become impossible to ignore.

The Akbar Contract

Against a deadly alliance of Japanese smarts and KGB savagery, they were striking back—with everything they had! In the arms race against Russia, the United States has eked ahead with their superior advancements in computer technology. All that changes when Russia recruits some of Japan’s finest scientific minds to build their greatest weapon yet: a supercomputer capable of annihilating the US’s formidable Star Wars defense system. Destined for the land of the Samurai, the Black Berets know just how much is riding on this latest mission. If Russia succeeds in its quest for world domination, the future of the warriors’ countrymen—and their loved ones—is bleak indeed.

The Samurai Contract

The Black Berets are back—and headed straight into a massacre. In Mesa County, Nevada, the tide of history was about to change. A tiny tribe of Indigenous Americans had just beaten the white man in his own court—and won title to some of the richest land in America. But some people were poor losers. And if they couldn’t hold on to the land … they’d simply eliminate its rightful owners. With a handful of poorly armed Native Americans facing a lynch mob led by the county sheriff and backed by corporate millions, Mesa County might be the setting for another Wounded Knee. Until the Black Berets get in on the action and show how professionals handle a massacre.

The Red Man Contract

A band of terrorists in a Caribbean paradise are up against the Black Berets, the deadliest fighters on the planet! The Black Palm called themselves a nation, though their own people had cast them out. They called themselves an army, but made war on unarmed men, women, and children. And in their fanatical crusade, they might strike anywhere. Even in the tiny Caribbean republic of New Neuzen. The only thing that stood between New Neuzen and a terrorist bloodbath were five American tourists. Those tourists happened to be the Black Berets, the dirtiest—and deadliest—warriors on earth. And they had not come to New Neuzen for a vacation. Unless your idea of a holiday is total war!

The Black Palm

National hero, military genius—too bad the Black Berets had him marked for death … To the average citizen, the Lion of Salvador was a national hero, a military general of such renown that his accolades spanned two continents. To those in the know, however, the man was the cruelest of drug lords, a savage despot building an unstoppable empire that ranged from the Central American jungle to the bustling streets of New York. Enter the five-man special ops team known for taking down the worst of enemies around the world. The Black Berets have been tagged to put an end to the Lion’s reign of terror. But how do you kill a man the world lauds as an untouchable hero?

The Night of the Jaguar

The Black Berets learned their lethal skills on the secret battlefields of Vietnam. In the first volume of this classic series of wartime adventure, once the Black Berets start fighting for themselves, what will it take to be able to stop them? Deadly Reunion As war raged in Vietnam, the Black Berets took on the most secret—and most heinous—of covert operations. Eight years after their bloody exploits across the battlefields of Asia, the five-man team is reunited at the behest of their scheming CIA handler. However, word has it one of their own, thought long-dead, is alive and being held prisoner in Laos. Shaking off the cobwebs of civilian life, the Black Berets must re-hone their skills to become a flawless killing machine once more. Eager to get back in the game, they’re ready for action. But who can they really trust? Cold Vengeance The Black Berets had survived everything the Vietcong could throw at them. Now they’d throw it back … at the American renegade who’d betrayed them. They’d never liked Parkes, their former CIA case officer. But how were they going to tell him? First they had to find him, and that would take Beeker, Rosie, Cowboy, Harry, and Marty, from the bayous of Louisiana to an academy of terror in the Libyan desert, where they’d get a chance to say just what they had in mind—with bullets and a body bag. The Black Palm The Black Palm called themselves a nation, though their own people had cast them out. They called themselves an army, but made war on unarmed men, women, and children. And in their fanatical crusade, they might strike anywhere. The only thing that stood between the tiny Caribbean republic of New Neuzen and a terrorist bloodbath were five American tourists. Those tourists happened to be the Black Berets, the dirtiest—and deadliest—warriors on earth. And they had not come to New Neuzen for a vacation. Unless your idea of a holiday is total war!

The Black Berets, Vol. 1

The Black Berets learned their lethal skills on the secret battlefields of Vietnam. In this classic novel of wartime adventure, once the Black Berets start fighting for themselves, what will it take to be able to stop them? They were the most elite team of interservice fighters America’s government had ever formed. As war raged in Vietnam, the Black Berets took on the most secret—and most heinous—of covert operations. Now they’re back, and they have a new mission. Eight years after their bloody exploits across the battlefields of Asia, the five-man team is reunited at the behest of their scheming CIA handler, a man none of them trusts after a dirty war of lies and betrayals. However, word has it one of their own, thought long-dead, is alive and being held prisoner in Laos. Shaking off the cobwebs of civilian life, the Black Berets must rehone their skills to become a flawless killing machine once more. Eager to get back in the game, they’re ready for action. But who can they really trust?

Deadly Reunion

El libro en que se ha inspirado una de las grandes películas de Netflix, The Dig. En el largo y caluroso verano del año 1939 Inglaterra se prepara para la guerra. Pero en una pequeña granja junto al río, cerca de Suffolk, ajena a cuanto acontece más allá de sus lindes, se vive otro tipo de historia, una que poco o nada tiene que ver con las nubes oscuras que se arremolinan sobre el continente. La señora Pretty, una granjera viuda, con la ayuda de Basil Brown, un arqueólogo de habilidades más bien poco ortodoxas y muy dado a la reflexión, ha demostrado estar en lo cierto en lo que concierne a los montículos que hay en su propiedad. Nadie daba demasiado por ellos, pero pronto descubrirán que esconden uno de los mayores tesoros arqueológicos de la historia. Un evocador drama humano de pasión, rivalidad y arrepentimiento en los albores de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. «Fascinante, exquisitamente original.» Ian McEwan «Una apasionante historia de amor y de pérdida, un verdadero tesoro literario.» Robert Harris «Brilla con nostalgia y pesar. Es algo completamente maravilloso.» New York Times «Una novela conmovedora, perfectamente tramada.» Spectator «Una evocación maravillosa de una época perdida.» Sunday Times «Maravilloso, evocador. De una historia de barro y suciedad, Preston ha sacado oro.» Observer

Libros digitales

La excavación

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