Richard Norton Smith is a delightful writer, and The Colonel sparkles from start to finish. This is a terrific book, full of insight and surprise, often funny, consistently fair, and as brimming with life as its Chicago setting. Readers are in for a grand time. - David McCulldugh, Author Of John Adams; ""At last The Colonel gets his due. Smith brings us the fascinating life of a singular American, revealing the complexities of the inner man, how he built a great newspaper company, and how he influenced the world we live in today."" - Michael R. Beschloss, Author Of The Conquerors; ""Richard Norton Smith is everything The Colonel wasn't - judicious, clear-headed, and historically accurate. For all these virtues he's still managed to produce a biography that wonderfully captures his eccentric, pigheaded, impossible (and sometimes even likeable) subject. The Colonel is as big as all Chicago - a fresh, informative, and hugely entertaining book."" - Thomas Mallon, Author Of Mrs. Paine's Garage; ""The best book ever written about the press."" - Hilton Kramer; ""[Smith] never mocks his subject, but neither does he ever extend him more credit than he earned."" - Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World
