The real deal : the autobiography of Britain's most controversial media mogul /

Includes index.

This is a no-holds-barred account of the highs and lows of Desmond's long and illustrious career as a publisher and entrepreneur, from his first foray into the world of business at the age of five, helping his deaf father negotiate advertising contracts, to the meteoric rise of his media company Northern & Shell. He talks of his early life as a rock and roll drummer, his first fully fledged job as a classified ad salesman, his decision to move into magazine publishing and his pioneering relocation to Docklands, and so on to the inexorable rise of his raft of leisure and top-shelf titles, the launch of OK! magazine, the acquisition of Express Newspapers, the purchase and sale of Channel 5, the launch of the Health Lottery, and his current plans for a massive property development and regeneration project.