Empire

The Life, Legend, and Madness of Howard Hughes

By: Donald L. Barlett, James B. Steele

Narrated by: Christopher Hurt

Howard Hughes lived one of the greatest, most heroic, misunderstood, mysterious, bizarre, and tragic lives in American history. In this brilliantly documented biography, the mythology that surrounded that life is disentangled from the truth.

Hughes had always been different. Certainly his riches set him apart, but he was also tough. Orphaned and a millionaire at 18, Hughes repudiated his relatives, seized control of the Hughes Tool Company, the linchpin of his fortune, and went on to become a flamboyant movie producer, holder of many world aviation records, principal owner of Trans World Airlines, a critically important defense contractor, Hollywood's most pursued and elusive bachelor, and partner of the United States government.

This is an epic biography of an epic figure who bestrode the world like a colossus yet could not master himself.

©1979 Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele (P)1994 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Of all the books written about Howard Hughes, Empire is easily the best...." (New York Times Book Review)

"A remarkable job of investigative reporting....cracks Hughes's public persona as it disentangles the psychodrama of his private doings." (Publishers Weekly)

"[The] most responsible and authoritative biography of Hughes to date." (Newsweek)

A bit long... very detailed

I personally wanted to hear more about his flying days. That part seemed short compared to the length of this book. Overall I learned everything about Howard Hughes.

Very well done. Greatly enjoyed it

A very complicated and astounding story masterfully presented. Would highly recommend it if you are interested in Howard Hughes.

Great insight into Hughes life

I enjoyed the Hughes biography, the narration is good, though there were some noticeable spots where words were recorded and inserted instead of rerecording the sentence or paragraph. I learned a lot about Hughes' life, though the book did run a little long.

Interesting Man - OK Book

This book's structure and production of the audio book are not great. But the subject is truly interesting, so it kept me engaged despite the distractions of the way it's recorded.

EVERYTHING you Ever wanted to know about HRH

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

My books are during 1 hour ride to & from work, 5 days per week for 10 hours. This book had some dry spells, but overall I found it educational.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I think the pinnacle is the 'Spruce Goose', but there are so many different things he did, it's difficult to peg any one.
Least interesting was the in depth reading of the multiple hand written instructions for every aspect of his mad, mad solitude.

What didn’t you like about Christopher Hurt’s performance?

For the documentary present, it was well read. Par for documentary, some dry spots, but not taking away overall.

Could you see Empire being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

There are already movies. Most recent being "The Aviator"

Any additional comments?

A very long book, I appreciated its additional information even if it did get boring at times. I have long fascinated in HRH, mainly for his aviation interests. I learned much about the many other things he obsessed over. In the end I realized he swung onto the scene due to his parents untimely demise, and without proper direction, became a spoiled, self indulged brat. That said, he and those working for him did make great strides in the science of aviation.