- Hardcover: 512 pages
- Publisher: Macmillan; First Edition edition (Nov 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 033374554X
- ISBN-13: 978-0333745540
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.2 x 5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 261,096 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Tom Bower tells the story of one of the most controversial figures of the 1990s: Mohamed Al Fayed, whose tormented and bizarre journey is a saga reminiscent of an epic Hollywood thriller.
From the Publisher
A BESTSELLING AND CONTROVERSIAL BIOGRAPHY
Macmillan is proud to announce a major new work by one of Britain's leading investigative writers.
Macmillan is proud to announce a major new work by one of Britain's leading investigative writers.
Tom Bower turns the full beam of his formidable powers on one of the most controversial figures of the 1990s: Mohamed Al Fayed, owner of Harrods, bereaved father of Dodi and instigator of the 'cash for questions' sensation which condemned the last Tory government to ridicule.
'The author of Fayed is the Inspector Morse of investigative biographers, a fluent, phlegmatic story-teller and a master of intricacies.' Sunday Times
'Given the extreme difficulty of researching a subject like Fayed, Bower deserves full marks for effort and courage ... his Fayed is a "fuggin" good read.' Lynn Barber, Daily Telegraph
'Tom Bower has beaten Fayed's ghost-writer to it with a book that displays all the forensic skills he employed in exposing Rowland and Robert Maxwell' Sunday Times
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As he previously did with Robert Maxwell (ne Jan Hoch) and Tiny Rowland (aka Roland Fuhrop), Tom Bower has produced a wonderful biography of Mohamed Fayed which debunks a lot of myths and presents reality in a somewhat different manner from Fayed's publicists and spin doctors. Tracing his origins to the back streets of Alexandria selling cans of coke and sewing machines from door to door, Bower recounts Fayed's good luck and timely business judgement with a mixture of begrudging admiration and bitchy comments. The maneouvres and shenanigans described in the book are in part fascinating, in part cringe-making and in many places hilarious, to the point that if this book were a novel, the reader might think that some features (eg the alleged dirty tricks and the apparent sheer vulgarity of the Fayed empire) stretched credulity a little far. But this book is a riveting good read throughout, even if one can't help feeling sorry for its subject towards the end.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Unwrapped on Christmas Day, this 462 page expose has proved as infuriating to my, oft ignored, family as it will undoubtedly be to Mr. 'Al' Fayed. Written without undue sensation, the unfolding story of the life and times of Mohamed Fayed has been literally un-put-downable over the past three days. The well told story links a series of facts and fantasies widely reported in various media over the last 15 years and is, therefore, valuable as a diary of events which have shaped our recent national history. Covering a broad spectrum, Tom Bower's unauthorised biography exposes the nature of power, individual and corporate greed and excess, British politics in the '80's and '90's, class structure, the awesome reach of the media, sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll - literally something for everyone. The common denominator, of course, being the omnipresent and 'omnipotent' Mohamed Fayed. An entertaining and sometimes shocking account I will, naturally, decline to leave my name or any other traceable identification with this review - if you read the book, you'll understand why....!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Read in three days, the book covers Mo's life from selling coke in Egypt to beer in Harrods. In between, you read in mute astonishment as the reality of Fayed's life is peeled away, layer by layer. An undeniably colourful character, you close the book feeling slightly sickened about the corrupting effect of both money and "power".
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
I Tell You I Know!
"I know!" said the Rory Bremner take-off of Fayed, or, as he has long preferred to call himself, al-Fayed (a more aristocratic version to which he has no entitlement). Read more
Published on 22 Oct 2009 by Ian Millard
An extraordinary warts and all book
A totally different kind of biography is the unauthorised one of Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed by Tom Bower. Read more
Published on 22 Oct 1998
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