All that Glitters

Inside the Condé Nast magazine world run by billionaire S. I. Newhouse Jr., Anna Wintour and Tina Brown were bold and talented British women who fought their way to the top of this male-dominated American industry driven by greed and betrayal. Wintour became an icon of fashion and New York’s high society, while Brown helped define the intersection of literary culture and Hollywood celebrity. They jockeyed for power in the hypercompetitive “off with their heads” atmosphere set up by Newhouse and his longtime creative guru Alex Liberman, two men who for years controlled the glossy Condé Nast magazines that dictated how women should look, dress, and feel.

In turning this world upside down, Wintour and Brown challenged the old rules and made Newhouse’s company internationally famous. Ultimately, one of them won in their fascinating struggle for fame and fortune during the height of New York’s gilded age of print — a time before the Internet, before 9/11, when the Reagans ruled the White House and Donald Trump was a mere local developer featured on the cover of Newhouse’s publications.

At its heart, ALL THAT GLITTERS is a parable about the changes in America’s media, where corruption and easy compromises are sprinkled with glitter, power and glory. Originally titled Newhouse, this re-issued version, with a new introduction and afterword, won the 1994 Frank Luther Mott Award for best researched media book of the year.