Beaverbrook, William Maxwell (‘Max’) Aitken, first Baron
Beaverbrook, William Maxwell (‘Max’) Aitken, first Baron ( 1879 – 1964 ),newspaper proprietor, born in Canada, the son of a Presbyterian minister; he made a fortune as a financier, then came to England in 1910 , and embarked on a career in politics. In 1916 (the year in which he became Lord Beaverbrook ) he bought the Daily Express, launched the Sunday Express in 1918 , and in 1923 gained control of the Evening Standard, of which his friend Arnold Bennett became the influential reviewer; his drive for high circulation was immensely successful, and he became the most powerful figure in popular journalism, setting the stamp of his own flamboyant personality and prejudices on the papers he owned. He enjoyed controversy, from the ‘Empire Crusade’ of his early years to the anti-Common Market stand of his old age. His own works include Canada in Flanders (2 vols, 1915 – 17 ),...
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