An "illuminating biography" of the forgotten, tragic genius who founded Time magazine with his friend and fierce rival Henry Luce ( The New Yorker).

Friends, collaborators, and childhood rivals, Briton Hadden and Henry R. Luce were not yet twenty-five when they started Time, the first newsmagazine, at the outset of the Roaring Twenties. By age thirty, they were both millionaires, having laid the foundation for a media empire. But their partnership was explosive and their competition ferocious, fueled by envy as well as love. When Hadden died at the age of thirty-one, Luce began to meticulously bury the legacy of the giant he was never able to best.

In this groundbreaking, stylish, and passionate biography, Isaiah Wilner paints a fascinating portrait of Briton Hadden—genius and visionary—and presents the first full account of the birth of Time, while offering a provocative reappraisal of Henry R. Luce, arguably the most significant media figure of the twentieth century.

"A riveting narrative . . . richly detailed . . . part This Side of Paradise, part Citizen Kane." — The Wall Street Journal

"[A] scintillating biography . . . a perceptive psychological study and cultural history, with a touch of ink-stained romanticism." — Publishers Weekly

"With access to the Time archives and unpublished interviews and correspondence, Wilner offers all the excitement of a new media enterprise launched in the Roaring Twenties by two fascinating figures." — Booklist