Howard Hughes - the Secret Life by Charles Higham
In his time, Howard Hughes was perhaps the richest man in the world, his fortune gained from motion pictures, aviation and engineering. He had romantic involvements with Katherine Hepburn, Lana Turner, Ginger Rogers, Olivia de Havilland, Bette Davis, Susan Hayward, Ava Gardner and many more. This book describes these relationships, as well as Hughes's little known homosexual life, including affairs with Cary Grant and Tyrone Power. Hughes made the films "The Outlaw", in total defiance of the censors, and "Scarface" in which there was a hint of incest. So obsessed was he with the details of his business that he controlled the actual cut of Jane Russell's brassiere. This book also describes Hughes's relationship with the politicans whom he corrupted and bent to his will, his business transactions and his involvement in Watergate, and his anti-semitism, as well as his round the world journey in 1937. The later years were ones of breakdowns and seclusion, with Hughes literally insulating himself from the world.