Mail Men

Book excerpt: From its founding by the Harmsworth brothers in 1896, to turning 'compact' in 1971 and becoming the world's biggest newspaper website in 2011, Mail Men explores the rise and rise of the Daily Mail, Britain's most profitable newspaper. Charting the controversy that has always dogged the publication - from its flirtation with fascism in the 1930s to its fractious relationship with celebrities today, Addison explains how the divisive paper has shaped British journalism and, indeed, Britain itself. With colourful portraits of rambunctious life behind the masthead (discover why one corridor is dubbed 'scary' by staffers), Mail Men includes fascinating biographical details of key figures in the history of the paper - including idiosyncratic boss Paul Dacre, unrivalled moral arbiter for Middle England and the highest paid newspaper editor in the UK. Drawing on interviews with a vast array of the paper's journalists, past and present -- as well as fans, victims, and critics - this is the uncut story of the Mail Men who created and ran the paper, and the underlings who were expected to give their lives to this peculiarly British institution--