The Bootle Boy

A brilliantly evocative memoir from the golden age of newspaper publishing, from a man who helped define our modern media.A brilliantly evocative memoir from the golden age of newspaper publishing, from a man who helped define our modern media.When Les Hinton first fulfils his schoolboy dream of working on Fleet Street, it is still a place awash in warm beer, black ink, fag ash, and hot metal. Fifty-two years after being sent out to buy a sandwich for his first boss, one Rupert Murdoch, when Les finally leaves Murdoch's employment in 2011, the business of news has been turned upside down, in a tumble of social and technological change.Les Hinton has been present at and noiselessly directed several key scenes in that tale of revolutionary transformation, as employee and later head of Murdoch companies in newspapers, magazines, and television, on three continents over five decades, in Wapping and Wall Street, Australia and California.Born amid the rubble of the blitzed docklands of Bootle, and schooled by an itinerant Army childhood, he came to the centre from the periphery, just as Murdoch did. There, with a gang of like-minded outsiders, he set about redrawing the map of the media.Hinton depicts the upheavals that swept his trade with the same widescreen perspective and sharp colours he deploys to show us how politicians from Clinton to Blair, from Brown to Cameron, alternately canoodled and raged inside their arranged media marriages. We see the death of Diana, the IRA bombings, the charisma of Bill Clinton, and the phone-hacking scandal from a revelatory new angle. And we get the most undeluded and undiluted portrait yet of the man who is perhaps the last of the great press barons.Above all, emerging out of Hinton's scintillating stories of half a century of Murdoch and news revolutions, comes the voice of a wandering Liverpudlian who is still in love with the life of a newspaperman, and now the author of one of the defining media memoirs of our age.'Les Hinton's story is about the glory and the tragedy of the newspaper business. He knows all the secrets of this tale and few are more clear-eyed than him when they tell it.'- Michael Wolff, author of Fire and Fury'An epic story ... and a penetrating insight into the mind of Murdoch.'-Daily Mail'It vividly captures the rise and fall of the press over 60 years ... no acolyte's paean.'-Ian Burrell, I

“Les Hinton's story is about the glory and the tragedy of the newspaper business. He knows all the secrets of this tale and few are more clear-eyed than him when they tell it.”

It vividly captures the rise and fall of the press over 60 years … [no] acolyte’s paean.’ — Ian Burrell, i``Hinton is likeable and self-deprecating as he conjures up the lost worlds of boyhood and early newspaper days. A must-read for anyone with even a fleeting interest in the media.’ — Noreen Barr, Press Association[A] great romp of a journalistic memoir.’ — Stephen Robinson, The Sunday TimesA fascinating read.’ — The Sunday Post Dundee[Gives] an unprecedented insight into the media mogul [Murdoch’s] ways.’ — iHinton is likeable and self-deprecating as he conjures up the lost worlds of boyhood and early newspaper days. A must-read for anyone with even a fleeting interest in the media.’ — Surrey Advertiser’ —Michael Wolff, author of Fire and FuryA delightful autobiography … honest, revealing—and a beautifully written page turner … No one has worked more closely and for longer with Rupert Murdoch than Les Hinton … But he does not shy away from criticism of Murdoch’s mistakes.’ —William Shawcross, author of Justice and the EnemyAn epic story … and a penetrating insight into the mind of Murdoch.’ —The Daily MailA rollicking good tale of his extraordinary life … an utterly charming autobiography’ —William Shawcross, StandpointOverflowing with the names of the rich and famous, from Yoko Ono, Johnny Rotten and Graham Greene (“I smiled at him, he smiled back”) to Bill Clinton, Princess Diana and Gordon Brown … pacey and engrossing and a lot better written than most of the hacks’ memoirs I have struggled through over the years.’ —Michael Leapman, British Journalism reviewBrilliant … a remarkable book.’ —Mark Day, The AustralianAn autobiography conveying an abundance of charm and refreshingly robust honesty.’ —Australian Book ReviewA terrific memoir by one of the all-time great newspapermen. Highly recommend if you want to know what it takes to be a journalist.’ —Piers MorganIt vividly captures the rise and fall of the press over 60 years … [no] acolyte’s paean.’ —iHinton evokes delicious memories of the analog age of newspapers, describing the smells and sounds of chutes, linotypes, molten lead stereo casting machines and presses roaring amid mists of paper fluff.’ —Weekend Australian[A] great romp of a journalistic memoir.’ —Stephen Robinson, The Sunday TimesLes Hinton’s An Untidy Life, is an ode to journalism and the amazing, eyeopening, exciting and gratifying life it offers … at the centre of it all remains the shining, enticing, come-hither core value of journalism — to tell tales, to record the way we live, to bring light where there is murk and to reflect our societies.’ —Mark Day, The AustralianLes Hinton lifts the lid on his 52 years working with the media mogul Rupert Murdoch … This untidy life in news’ yields a rich crop of anecdotes.’ —Daniel Johnson, The TimesLes Hinton tells the story of his remarkable life in a remarkable book.’ —The Weekend AustralianHis narrative of growing up in Bootle, in Liverpool, and many other places around the world then moving into journalism is inspirational for any wanting to follow that path.’ —Steve Howard, Manly Daily'The yarns are delivered with a classic journalist’s eye for the telling physical detail, an ear for the revealing quote and a knack for sequencing facts.' —David Cohen, Sunday Star TimesThe stories are all told from the front row.’ —Well-Red Bear, Roy Christopher

Les Hinton was born in Bootle, Merseyside, in 1944, the son of a British Army sergeant. For the first 15 years of his life he lived in Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Germany, Singapore, and numerous places in Britain. In 1959, his family emigrated to Adelaide, South Australia, where he became a copy boy in a small evening newspaper owned by a rising young publisher, Rupert Murdoch. In the next 52 years, as Murdoch grew his empire, Hinton travelled the world, first as a correspondent, later as one of Murdoch's most senior executives. He lives with his wife Kath in New York and London. This is his first book.

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