Description

‘Explosive’ Esquire
‘Epic’ Financial Times
‘Riveting’ Vanity Fair

Sumner Redstone was the CEO of Hollywood’s most influential company: the powerhouse behind Indiana Jones and Star Wars, film studios and TV production companies, a fleet of private jets and tailor-made jewellery lines. He was notorious for his fearsome temper, his all-consuming ambition and his pledge to live forever. Until, one day, he lost control.

Unscripted is the story of an empire embroiled in scandal, a will in tatters, and a family on the edge of self-destruction. It sounds too outrageous to be true – except it is.

Longlisted for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award

‘A racy tale of big money, bigger egos and #MeToo disgrace.’ The Times

‘Addicted to Succession? Well, here’s the real thing.’ Hollywood Reporter

Publisher Review

A racy tale of big money, bigger egos and #MeToo disgrace . . . Like a real-life blueprint for the TV show Succession * The Times * Jaw-dropping . . . an epic tale of toxic wealth and greed populated by connivers and manipulators. -- Editor's Choice * New York Times * Sex and power were the abiding obsessions of the colourful media mogul Sumner Redstone, whose life and career only became more bizarre as he aged and family and friends sought to get their hands on his empire. The saga helped inspire the HBO series Succession; this deeply reported account shows the truth was, if anything, stranger. * Financial Times, Best Books of 2023 * A real-life Succession . . . A deeply reported account of one of the trashiest episodes in recent business history . . . Masterful. * Financial Times * Has a business book ever made you blush? . . . With soap-operatic twists and turns, Unscripted makes the amped-up historical fiction of Babylon feel downright chaste by comparison * Washington Post *