At the turn of the twentieth century, the Kansas City Star was a trust-busting newspaper acclaimed for its progressive spirit; fifty years later it was a busted trust, targeted in the most important antitrust action ever brought against an American daily. Haskell takes readers into the Star s city room and executive offices and tells the story of the three men with contrasting personalities and agendas who shaped the paper: William Rockhill Nelson, among the last of the great personal editors from journalism s golden age; the scholarly Henry J. Haskell, who led the Star to its peak of influence in the 1930s and 40s; and Roy A. Roberts, who went on to combine the roles of newspaper publisher and political kingmaker. Haskell recounts such milestones as the Star s role in the City Beautiful movement that helped transform America s urban centers, the nation s entry into two global wars, a bold but ill-starred experiment in employee ownership, and the paper s battle with Boss Pendergast s legendary political machine.