Maxwell: The Rise and Fall of Robert Maxwell and His Empire

In this juicy, relentlessly unflattering, at times vindictive portrait of Robert Maxwell, who died mysteriously last November, Greenslade strips away the facade of the boastful press baron to portray a panic-stricken con man who massively plundered his public companies and his employees' pension funds in an effort to save his debt-ridden empire. Greenslade was editor of London's Maxwell-owned Daily Mirror until March 1991, when he left because of the tycoon's ``gross editorial interference.'' The Maxwell who swaggers through these acid pages is a shameless self-promoter, a windbag politician during his six years in Parliament, an authoritarian boss given to violent mood swings and a brutal, tyrannical father to his seven children. His marriage was such ``a sham'' that he and his wife Betty lived apart despite a public show of unity, Greenslade reports. He also details Maxwell's misuse of company funds and, with support from a pathologist's report, argues that the press lord probably committed suicide because he could not face the public disgrace of ``being revealed as a cheat and a thief.'' Photos. (Sept.)