This biography shows how Murdoch's approach to the acquisition of influence has benefited from being diluted across three different political cultures - the US, Britain and Australia - even in the media-saturated, global-village culture he has been instrumental in creating. And because of the physical and cultural distances between the three Murdochs has been able to influence political affairs with impunity. Is this a good thing? The book argues convincingly that it is not, and indeed that it does against fundamental principles of democracy. Arguing that the freedom of the press is not just in our interest but a matter of life and death, it builds a case against the dangers of media monopoly.