Kindle
$13.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$18.80
Paperback
$9.42
Buy new:
-64% $9.42
$3.99 delivery May 14 - 15
Ships from: musicogswell books & more
Sold by: musicogswell books & more
$9.42 with 64 percent savings
List Price: $25.99

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
$3.99 delivery May 14 - 15. Details
Or fastest delivery May 8 - 13. Details
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$9.42 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$9.42
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
musicogswell books & more
Ships from
musicogswell books & more
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$8.48
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
Shipped fast and reliably through the Amazon Prime program! Book may contain some writing, highlighting, and or cover damage. Shipped fast and reliably through the Amazon Prime program! Book may contain some writing, highlighting, and or cover damage. See less
FREE delivery Sunday, May 12 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Wednesday, May 8. Order within 20 hrs 15 mins
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$9.42 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$9.42
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Peter Harry Brown
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Howard Hughes: The Untold Story Paperback – November 3, 2004

by Peter Harry Brown (Author), Pat H. Broeske (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 289 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$9.42","priceAmount":9.42,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"9","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"42","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"sFaacki1OfU1xOWj%2BTSib7YmmzSBLfacNoZ9qHG6kh9AEcuziNbp05CB9h2gIQYLTaSuWehkMphN72yeNUJZ8eoTbNBuotJlJdFy9g9%2BrDGDNqx1hVfoLk3Gh%2B%2FiNjKLtAJDyXpRNuwOCF3PsJTzrDjUxQufgGzy51W5%2BJPwwq6teJCRe%2FRQ3g%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$8.48","priceAmount":8.48,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"8","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"48","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"sFaacki1OfU1xOWj%2BTSib7YmmzSBLfack9qy3ZD9KM9ZiXxAEPu2JXzZ8NQIW0LPYkB1eOeZ72JBaUs6tBfkxWAljQqea3O2NEsZ%2FwR8gExNstM%2F6jjlkyN7I1h1br7mnuOjazvfSPV%2BnBBZP5UYGcBhvWBoAceaHBXT8%2BsgeJG3rZD2KDbEjGly0G0riFNS","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Howard Hughes was one of the most amazing, intriguing, and controversial figures of the twentieth century. He was the billionaire head of a giant corporation, a genius inventor, an ace pilot, a matinee-idol-handsome playboy, a major movie maker who bedded a long list of Hollywood glamour queens, a sexual sultan with a harem of teenage consorts, a political insider with intimate ties to Watergate, a Las Vegas kingpin, and ultimately a bizarre recluse whose final years and shocking death were cloaked in macabre mystery. Now he is the subject of Martin Scorsese's biopic The Aviator. Few people have been able to penetrate the wall of secrecy that enshrouded this complex man. In this fascinating, revelation-packed biography, the full story of one of the most daring, enigmatic, and reclusive power brokers America has ever known is finally told.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    528 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Da Capo Press
  4. Publication date
    November 3, 2004
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 1.29 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0306813920
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0306813924
  8. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Frequently bought together

Howard Hughes: The Untold Story
$15.85
Get it as soon as Monday, May 13
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Sold by BOOKSTONE TRADING LLC and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.
+
Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness
$16.09
Get it as soon as Sunday, May 12
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
Boxes: The Secret Life of Howard Hughes
$13.89
Get it as soon as Sunday, May 12
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Some of these items ship sooner than the others.
Show details Hide details
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Insanely compelling." --The Rake December 2004

"The most measured [of Hughes biographies]." --New York Times 12/21/04

About the Author

Peter Harry Brown is, with Pat H. Broeske, the author of Down at the End of Lonely Street: The Life and Death of Elvis Presley. He is a journalist and author of the New York Times bestseller Marilyn: The Last Take.

Formerly with the Los Angeles Times, Pat H. Broeske is a veteran entertainment reporter who writes for Entertainment Weekly and the New York Times. Like Brown, Broeske lives in southern California.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Da Capo Press; Reprint edition (November 3, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 528 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0306813920
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0306813924
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.5 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.29 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 289 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Peter Harry Brown

Peter Harry Brown

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
289 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

J. Hauck (Guerrilla Reader)
5.0 out of 5 stars An Incredible Life Story of An Incredible Man!
Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2016
Verified Purchase
Review of: "Howard Hughes: The Untold Story," Hardcover – March 1, 1996 by Peter Harry Brown.

Broeske and Brown have created an excellent biography. Many people came across Howard Hughes (HH) as an icon from Scorsese's 2004 movie "The Aviator." Being slightly older I remembered the Hughes legacy from his involvement by lending his name to the Hughes Glomar Explorer (HGE) / K-129 Scandal where the HGE was commissioned to be built for the CIA (thus government owned) in order for that agency to covertly attempt the recovery of the Soviet K-129 Submarine in 1974 from the bottom of the ocean after it sank in 1968. This mission was known as "Project Azorian." I found out about it (like almost everyone else at the time) when the Case of Phillippi v. CIA, 546 F.2d 1009 (D.C. Cir. 1976) was filed and subsequently The Agency refused to "confirm or deny the existence" of any records or information concerning the operation.

Regardless, back to the biography. Howard Hughes' life is examined in great detail. The world came to know Hughes as "the brilliant inventor and shrewd businessman who pioneered commercial aviation, became the only individual ever to personally own a movie studio, led Trans World Airlines to become the preeminent international air carrier, womanized his way across the tabloid headlines of the 1920s and '30s, and descended into frightful paranoia and drug addiction in his old age." Authors Brown and Broeske however add much more detail about Howard's parents and background to portray him as a true human being in three-dimensions. The authors focus on Hughes' actual and perceived psychological disorders (most likely OCD, etc.); his passions for innovation in aviation and other enterprises prior to, during, and after WWII to include science and medicine; his excessive womanizing; his involvement in politics (Donald Nixon Scandal); etc. This biography reads quickly as the reader will be unlikely to put it down. If the movie "The Aviator" is of interest to you then read this biography to fill in the gaps particularly about the later years' of HH's life to include the memoir hoax of Clifford Irving and how HH's estate was distributed after his death (he was ruled to have died intestate, but there were many wills that surfaced).

In short, this biography is a great read and incredibly detailed. Although it may hover around his eccentricities it pays homage to an incredible figure of the Twentieth Century; one that is probably still undervalued and under appreciated. Five stars for an incredible life story.
17 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Diana M. Tyler
4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating story of an eternal legend
Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2020
Verified Purchase
This was a fascinating biography of Howard Hughes. It provides great insight into the private world of this man from childhood until his death. Certainly a challenging story to put into writing, this was well written and held my interest. A great deal of the book focused on the bizarre love life of this man but I feel it was unavoidable as it was such a huge part of his life with the multitude of women he had been involved with. Women were clearly an obsession for him. I also feel that the story clearly showed the correlation between his obsessive compulsive disorder and how it impacted his entire life. I also wonder about the bizarre behavior of individuals like Howard Hughes who are genius level beings with odd behaviors as was illustrated in this story. Great book and I would highly recommend!
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
J C E Hitchcock
5.0 out of 5 stars Aviation, the Movies and Sex. But Not Necessarily in that Order.
Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2019
Verified Purchase
During my younger days in the sixties and seventies Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (1905-1976) was generally considered Paul Getty’s chief rival for the title of Richest Man in the World. Getty may have been known for his little eccentricities and petty meannesses, but he nevertheless lived the standard multi-millionaire lifestyle with luxurious residences in several countries and a magnificent art collection. Hughes’s life, by contrast, seemed to be no more than one big eccentricity. Despite his vast wealth, he did not live in the luxurious style of a Getty, but was a notorious recluse, obsessed with his privacy, spending nearly all his time in darkened hotel rooms and only rarely venturing out to interact with the outside world.

After his death in April 1976- Getty was to die two months later- Hughes became, as far as I was concerned, a forgotten figure. My interest in him was revived when I saw Martin Scorsese’s masterly biopic “The Aviator” from 2004. Scorsese made it quite clear that, in his youth, Hughes was a very public figure indeed, far from a privacy-obsessed recluse. Getty’s fortune was based on oil and so, in an indirect way, was Hughes’s. His engineer father, Howard Robard Hughes Sr., had invented a new type of drill-bit which revolutionised the oil industry, making it possible to drill through even the hard rocks which covered much of the Teas oilfields. The Hughes Tool Company was the foundation of Hughes Jr.’s wealth, but it was not the part of his empire which interested him the most. His three great obsessions (although not necessarily in that order) were aviation, the movies and sex. Between the late twenties and the late forties he achieved fame in several fields, as a pioneer aviator second only in the public imagination behind Charles Lindbergh, as an aircraft designer and founder of the Hughes Aircraft Company, as Chief Executive of the airline TWA, as a film-maker and studio boss and as the lover of beautiful women, especially Hollywood actresses. After his death his wealth went to found the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, one of America’s leading philanthropic institutions.

The book chronicles Hughes’s achievements in all these spheres, with a particular emphasis on his complex love life. His role in the film industry allowed him access to most of the female stars of the era, and his lovers, apart from Jean Peters who became his second wife, included the likes of Billie Dove, Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Olivia de Havilland, Lana Turner, Ginger Rogers, Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, Gene Tierney, Susan Hayward and numerous others. (His Wikipedia entry also lists some not mentioned in this book, such as Hedy Lamarr). In fact, it might be shorter to list those Hollywood goddesses who did not become his lovers. Top of that list would be Jane Russell, who was a Hughes discovery- he both produced and directed her first film, “The Outlaw”- but who always refused to have a physical relationship with him. Others who proved immune to his charms included Virginia Mayo, Elizabeth Taylor and Janet Leigh. Unlike some producers, however, Hughes never operated a “casting couch policy”- he continued to promote Russell’s career despite her rejection of him, and did the same for the likes of Hepburn and Tierney even after their affairs were over.

The latter part of the book, of course, does deal with Hughes’s descent into eccentricity and a reclusive lifestyle. In the authors’ opinion the underlying cause was his obsessive–compulsive disorder, a condition not well understood in his lifetime, made worse by a phobia about germs inherited from an over-protective mother and by a number of head injuries which he suffered during his lifetime. Most of these were sustained in aircraft or motor crashes, although one occurred when Gardner struck him over the heard during one of their many quarrels. Other factors included deafness, chronic pain following the near-fatal crash in July 1946 of the Hughes XF-11 spy plane, one of his own designs, and an increasing addiction to the codeine which he had been prescribed to counter that pain.

Hughes was, of course, a deeply flawed individual, and would have counted as such even without the eccentric behaviour of his later years. His business ethics and his bookkeeping methods, which frequently involved raiding the cash reserves of the Hughes Tool Co to fund his more glamorous film-making or aviation projects, would not always have passed close scrutiny. His ability to attract beautiful women was matched only by his inability to remain faithful to them, which explains why all his many lovers eventually tired of him. His marriage to Peters lasted from 1957 to 1970, but for most of that time they had been estranged, married in name only.

Yet the authors make it clear that these flaws were an inescapable part of the obsessive personality which drove Hughes to his many successes and achievements. Had Hughes had a different personality he might have been a better man in moral terms, but also might have been a less fascinating one. He might have died still happily married to his first wife, the Houston socialite Ella Rice, as one of America’s most respected captains of industry, the former Chairman of the Hughes Tool Company, having handed over control on his retirement to his son Howard Robard Hughes III. (A hypothetical figure- in reality Hughes had no children from either marriage). Such a life would have been, in most people’s terms, a successful one, but he would not have achieved the things which made him one of the most talked-about men in the world. And nobody would have written a book about him.
18 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
LisaBZ
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent insights into an influential American icon
Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2012
Verified Purchase
This book covers everything about Howard Hughes, from his early formative years in Texas, to the loss of his mother, his many and varied pursuits of the world's most beautiful women, to his expansive business acumen: pulling his father's legacy into previously unseen profit and then building his own legacy within the aviation industry and the film business. It shows his descent into illness and drug addiction at the hands of his Mormon caregivers. I now have an understanding of who he really was, from many perspectives. Terrific read!
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Hobert H. Hicks
5.0 out of 5 stars Great investigative report on Howard Hughes
Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2021
Verified Purchase
Very good in providing many more details on Hughes and giving introspect on why he was as he was. Book gave out details of the 14 accidents he had which might have been a contributing factor to his mental makeup. Also, gave much more information on how his aids controlled him in later stages of his life, versus the traditional no information approach. Very good investigative book!
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A “6 Star” Read ...
Reviewed in Canada on April 8, 2018
Verified Purchase
The history of the corruption that penetrates the leading groups of government is amazing in the fact this history repeats itself over and over again. One who is experiencing the degrees of corruption in this day will relate this story to many factors that are present in the US Government of today. It is a read that I found difficult to take myself away from and when I did, it played over and over in my mind. An excellent, well written and provided fascinating knowledge of how the very rich use their means to influence their need for power. Of all the books published about Howard Hughes, this one is by far the best! This is the 3rd copy of this exact book I’ve purchased. Because of lending them out to read, I have not been able to recoup the other two. This one, will never leave my library. I searched for three years to get this exact book again.
Report
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant follow on from the James Phelan book on Hughes
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 2, 2014
Verified Purchase
Absolutely brilliant book that i really enjoyed. This is the third book that i have read about HH, and the more i read the more i want to know. He had more money than he knew what to do with it, dabbled in politics, spying and CIA programmes and slept with some of the most famous actresses of all time. Yet behind the scenes he would obsessed with germs and other things, issues that would take over his life and lead to him disappearing from public life, living in an information bubble where his closest aids manipulated his money and his mind to thier own ends. If you're interested in HH, then this is a brilliant book. A great follow on from the excellent book on HH by James Phelan. I thoroughly enjoyed reading these, but they always left me thinking that with such as complex man like HH, obsessed with privacy, we will only ever know a tiny amount about his actual life, especially when he went underground.
2 people found this helpful
 Report
Morrison Stone
4.0 out of 5 stars great book, great service.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 13, 2020
Verified Purchase
love this book so much, such a fab book, so insightful.
Report
Jilla Lonsdale
3.0 out of 5 stars Lots of potential -- not quite there
Reviewed in Canada on April 18, 2014
Verified Purchase
A bit of a laundry list of HH's love life and whacky antics, this book doesn't quite take off or gel
Yes he bedded lots of ladies and he was mightily screwed up but it doesn't really hang together as a story -- his early days are fascinating as are his last days but the days in between -- not so much!
Report
Thomas Walter
1.0 out of 5 stars Nicht kaufen / don't buy.
Reviewed in Germany on March 7, 2014
Verified Purchase
Der Inhalt mag ja gut sein. Aber: Das Buch wird in einer Schriftart ausgeliefert, die auf dem Kindle sehr schwer, auf dem iPhone praktisch gar nicht lesbar ist. Und - im Gegensatz zu praktisch allen anderen eBooks –kann man die Schriftart nicht ändern. Wer also nicht unbedingt Lust auf Kopfschmerzen hat: Finger weg

This might be a good story. But: The eBook is written in a typeface that is very hard to read on the Kindle and almost impossible to read on the iPhone. Additionaly the typeface cannot be changed. So: If you are not looking for real headaches – Keep your hands off.
One person found this helpful
 Report