Here, in a marvelously gripping and

rewarding novel, is the story of the

tycoons who created and built the

motion picture industry--not in Holly-

wood but in New York City at the turn of

the century.

In particular, it is the story of Max

Britsky--born in the East Side ghetto of

New York, penniless and of his strug-

gle to survive and to conquer the world

he had entered. It is also the story of the

woman he married, of love and hate and

fraud and financial piracy and infighting,

of loyalty and betrayal.

In other words, it is just the kind of tale

you would expect from one of the master

storytellers of our time. It is not a book to

be put down easily. Once you enter the

world of New York at the turn of the

century, the world of Rector s and

Delmonico s and Boss Murphy of Tam-

many Hall and Monk Eastman, that king

of hoodlums, you will partake of a won-

derfully rewarding feast.

And you will welcome Max Britsky

into the world of literary immortals.

Like Dan Lavette of San Francisco, Max

Britsky is a man for all seasons, and you

will live with him, laugh with him, and

weep with him.

The story told in this novel, the story

of the creation of the film industry, an

industry that changed the world, has

never been told in fiction. It is one of the

~reat stories of the twentieth century,