Murdoch

For this unauthorized biography of media baron Rupert Murdoch, a ``uniquely important'' information broker whose life has been ``an unending assault upon the world,'' Shawcross ( Sideshow ) had privileged access to Murdoch, to his colleagues and family. The result is a mostly nonjudgmental, flat profile of a driven, often ruthless, lonely man of ``invincible energy and ambition'' who put together a communications empire stretching from Australia to London to New York, Chicago and Hollywood. Shawcross perceives ``a certain dour puritanism'' in the king of sensationalist tabloid journalism. Murdoch's life was a series of takeovers, wins and losses that included the acquisitions of the New York Post, the London Times , Fox film and television, and HarperCollins publishers. Murdoch, an ardent supporter of Reaganism and Thatcherism, viewed himself as ``totally internationalist'' and saw his media empire as instrumental in promoting the Americanization of the world, but Shawcross fails to explore the implications of that prospect. Photos. Author tour. (Feb.)