The Fourth Estate (1996), a Novel by Jeffrey Archer: Summary

In May 1789, Louis XVI summoned to Versailles a full meeting of the “Estates General”.  “The First Estate consisted of three hundred nobles, the Second Estate, three hundred clergy, the Third Estate, six hundred commoners.”

“Yonder sits the fourth estate, and they are more important than them all.” The French Revolution, Edmund Burke. (“Fourth Estate” most commonly refers to the news media, especially print journalism or “the press”.)

“You must not imagine that conquering their language is the same as knowing how their minds work.” (p.211, the Fourth Estate, Jeffrey Archer)

The author is a British, he is one of the most successful writers in the world. The 598-page fiction published 2010 by Pan Books, an imprint of Pan Macmillan. The first time to me to read of Mr. Archer’s book, and also first time to have fiction with media theme. Of course Mr. Archer is superb on the writing, and the battling of international media mogul.

The story follows the poor Jew from Czech, Lubji Hoch that survives from Hitler’s army and succeeded to be an international media mogul. On contrary, an Australian, Keith Townsend, son of Australian media owner, studies in Oxford, is also ambitious to own international media.

I found myself enjoy Lubji Hoch’s part until he metamorphosed into Captain Richard Ian Armstrong and the book is well-written, but I have to admit that I hardly enjoyed half of the book until the end. 

The Fourth Estate (1996), a novel by Jeffrey Archer: summary

Lubji Hoch in Douski, 1923

Lubji was born in a small stone cottage outskirts of Douski, a town that nestled on  the Czech, Romanian and Polish borders. He could never be certain of the exact date of his birth, as the family kept no records, but he was roughly a year older than his brother and a year younger than his sister. 

The tiny cottage in which they lived was owned by his great-uncle, a rabbi. The rabbi, the Ruthenian Jew, had repeatedly begged Zelta not to married marry Sergei Hoch, the son of a local cattle trader. The young girl had been too ashamed to admit to her uncle that she was pregnant with Sergei’s child. Although she went against his wishes, the rabbi gave the newly married couple the little cottage as a wedding gift.

The rabbi never spoke to Lubji about his father, but he did tell him on many occasions that in her youth his mother had been courted by numerous admirers, as she was considered not only the most beautiful, but also the brightest girl in the town. With such a start in life she should become a teacher in the local school, the rabbi told him, but now she had to be satisfied with passing on her knowledge to her ever-increasing family.

As the years passed, the rabbi began to show interest in Lubji progress-and to worry about side of the family would gain dominance in the boy’s character. Lubji quickly bored by the cows that just stood around, waiting first to be milk and later to give birth. His father brought him to market, Lubji Hoch watched with fascination as people began to circle the cattle, some prodding them, others simply offering opinions as to their worth, in tongues he had never heard before. He became aware of the disadvantage his father labored under in speaking only one language in a town the borders of tree countries.

When his father finally received an offer in the one tongue he understood, he immediately accepted it without attempting to bargain. His father marched off into the market, where he purchased a sack of grain, a box of potatoes, some gefilte fish, various items of clothing, a pair of second-hand shoes which badly needed repairing. Lubji went to the market alone, after he was sure his father didn’t knew that. He spent the rest of the day walking around the stalls, finding out what each of them had to offer. He enjoyed watching the different techniques the traders used when bargaining with their customer: some bullying and some cajoling, almost all lying about the provenance of their wares. He stopped outside a baker, a butcher, a potter, a clothes shop, and finally a jeweler- Mr Lekski- the only establishment that had a name printed gold above the door.

His eyes settled on the beautiful brooch displayed in the center of the window. The six-year-old wanted to buy the brooch to his mother. The old man didn’t laugh, but gently explain to Lubji he would need more coins. The old man suggested him to come the next day.

Keith Townsend, Melbourne, 1929

Keith’s father, Sir Graham Townsend, was originally from Scotland, but at the turn of the century he and his parents had arrived in Australia on a cattle boat. Despite Sir Graham’s position as the proprietor of the Melbourne Courier and the Adelaide Gazette, crowned by a knighthood, Melbourne society- some members of which had been around for nearly a century, and never tired of reminding everyone that they were not the descendants of convicts.

As Keith as was his only son - he was the second of three children, the other two being girls -  Sir Graham assumed from his birth that the boy would follow him into newspaper business. Keith paid his first visit to his father’s presses at the age of three.

When Keith was eleven which where to shape the rest of his life, he was sent to a boys’ boarding school on the outskirts of Melbourne. Keith’s life changed the day he spotted a book advertised in the paper, the bookie book. It was during the third week of term that Keith came up with an idea for doubling his money which he felt sure the authorities would never latch on to.

German occupied Lubji’s home town

Lubji’s mother had read about the Fuhrer’s exploit in the Rabbi’s weekly paper. As she finished each page she handed the paper on her oldest son. For the past six years Lubji had spent each morning being tutored by her uncle in the house on the hill. He was released at midday so that he could return to the market, where he recently purchased his own stall. A few weeks after his bar mitzvah the old rabbi had handed Lubji’s mother the letter informing that Lubji had been awarded a scholarship to the academy in Ostrava. It was the happiest day of Zelta’s life, she knew her son was clever, perhaps exceptional, but also realized that such an offer could only have been secured by her uncle’s reputation.

When Lubji was first told the news of his scholarship, he tried not to show dismay. Although he was only allowed to go to market in the afternoon, he was making enough money to have provided every member of the family with pair of shoes and two meals a day.

At the end of his first year at Ostrava, he finished in the upper half of his class in most subject. He was top in mathematics and third in Hungarian, which now his second language. During the second year at the academy the name of Adolf Hitler came up in conversation as often as that of Moses. Jews were fleeing across the border every day reporting horrors taking place in Germany, Lubji could only wonder what the Fuhrer might have planned next. Later he found on the paper Hitler looked east. Hitler’s tanks would roll into Czechoslovakia.

The fifteen-year-old boy had recently heard rumors about the Germans rounding up Jews and placing them internment camp. He tried not think of what might happen to his family if they were captured. He swore that nothing would ever make him abandon his religion. Although freedom was a mere 180 kilometers away, Lubji saw the sun rise and set three times before he heard the cries from those ahead of him who had reached the sovereign state of Hungary. He finally collapsed on the steps of a massive synagogue, and when he woke the following morning, the first thing he did was to ask direction to the marketplace.

Day after day Lubji searched for work. At night he would collapse onto the pavement, hungry, and exhausted, but still determined. On the verge of despair, he passed and noticed an old woman in a newspaper kiosk on the corner of a quiet street, and noticed she wore the Star of David on a thin gold chain around her neck. During the day Mr. Cerani started to tell Lubji about the different papers, and was amazed to find how many languages he could read.

Over the meal Lubji learned that Mr. Cerani ran a paper shop that supplied the kiosk where his wife worked. Lately they had begun treating him as if he were their own son, giving hugged him before he went to bed. It made him think of his mother.

Mr. Farkas, the rival news agent from across the road, hovering only a few paces behind him, offered him a job as an assistant manager. He also promised him big salary and a big room that was far larger than little attic he presently occupied at the top of the Cerani’s house. He was taken by surprise, but within days this become regular occurrence. Then the first stones were thrown at Mr. Cerani’s shop window, and some of the regular customers began to cross the road to transfer their custom to Mr. Farkas. When he asked Mr. Farkas about the job, but the man said it was not for a Jew boy.

When Jews started being arrested for minor offences, he began to consider an escape route. Mr. Farkas nodded to a soldier when Lubji got caught. The soldier brutally slammed butt of his riffle into his chin.

He picked from different conversations that the Germans were going through the motions of proving that all the Jews were criminals, because a Red Cross observer from Geneva was present in court that morning. The judge looked at Lubji, scowled and said that he was sentence commuted to life imprisonment and retrial in twelve months’ time. The lorry screeched to a halt as it skidded out of the far end tunnel. Lubji leapt over the side and immediately ran back into the temporary darkness. The Gypsies saved his life, then there was Mari, the girl who gave him a new life and happiness during few weeks.

The caravans had crossed yet another border, and were now in Yugoslavia. Lubji tried to find the nearest port. One of the deckhands kept repeating the word Egypt, Lubji’s first thought was of Moses and the Promised Land. He had no idea how long the voyage to Egypt would take, and began to wonder if he could survive during a storm. He asked the dockers where he was in Czech, Hungarian, Russian, German, but received no response other than shrugs and laughter. Across the top of the door were printed words, he found himself in Port of Liverpool, England.

The Czech translator shrugged his shoulder, the easy way out to send him back to the internment camp. That didn’t turn out to be quite as easy as Lubji had anticipated, because once he was back in the camp among countrymen they showed little interest in speaking anything but Czech.

He saw an old woman pushing a bicycle laden with newspaper up the hill. As Mrs. Sweetman passed through the camp gates he couldn’t make out her face clearly. One of the words he learnt in English was newspaper. After that he set himself the task of learning ten words every day. Mrs. Sweetman quickly discovered that this was not first newsagent’s shop the young man worked in, and she made no attempt to stop him when he rearranged the shelves. Whenever the shop was empty Mrs. Sweetman would help Lubji with his English by reading out loud one of the stories from the front page of the Citizen.

When the Chairman of panel asked him to join old regiment, Lubji defiantly wanted to kill Germans with bare hands. He was transferred from the camp to a training depot in Staffordshire, where he would join the Pioneer Corps as a private soldier. The lieutenant recommended him to the North Staffordshire Regiment and gave an advice to change his name. Private John Player’s first posting was with the Second Battalion at Cliftonville. By the spring of 1944, southern England had become one vast training ground, and Private Player regularly took part in mock battles with Americans, Canadians and Poles. He got another promotion, now he was a corporal.   

Three months after Private John Player had landed on the beach at Normandy, the Regiment marched down the Champs Elysees, and newly promoted Sergeant Player thought to find a woman to spend three nights. When Sergeant Player arrived at the committee headquarters, a requisitioned building in the Place de la Madeleine, he took his place in line waiting to receive a folder information about what was expected of him while he was on Allied territory - how to locate the Eiffel Tower, which clubs and restaurants were within his price range. A slim young girl with deep brown eyes and dark curly hair stood behind the table, handed him a folder. Charlotte’s face crumpled as the man she had fallen in love strode away, because so many friends had warned her that once they had left, you never saw them again. And they were to be proved right, because Charlotte Reville never saw Player again. He had to leave the Regiment, and he was recommended to the King’s Commission. Again his boss suggested him to change his ridiculous name.

Every serving officer in King’s Own soon learned Lieutenant Richard Ian Armstrong’s past exploits, and as the regiment advanced towards German soil he was, by his bravery and example in the field. Armstrong commandeered a German motorcycle and sped back to Paris, arriving on Charlotte’s doorstep. Two weeks later, the German unconditional surrender was signed by General Jodl and accepted by Eisenhower. The next day Captain Richard Ian Armstrong was granted a week’s leave. Dick Armstrong powered his motorcycle back to Paris, arriving at Charlotte’s old apartment a few minutes before midnight. The following morning Charlotte, in a white suit, and Dick in his dress uniform, walked to the local town hall. They emerged thirty minutes later as Captain and Mrs. Armstrong. When Dick left her return to his regiment, he told her that now the war was over he intended to leave the army, take her to England and build a great business empire.

Colonel Oakshott offered him a job at the Public Relation and Information Service Control (the PIRSC), the one who convinced the outside world that they were treating the enemy even-handedly was proving far more difficult. Dick spoke several languages and had all the qualifications the job requires. They wanted to own Der Telegraf that currently operated by a German called Arno Schultz. Another German was running Der Berliner out of American sector-which was added reason why Der Berliner needed to be a success. At the moment Der Berliner was selling twice as many copies as Der Telegraf. It took him a little longer to sign up a staff of eleven to manage the office, because all the best people were already working for the Allied Control Commission. He began poaching a Sally Carr, a general’s secretary who had worked for the Daily Chronicle in London before the war.

Keith Townsend in October 1946

When Keith Townsend arrived at Worcester College, Oxford to read Politics, Philosophy and Economics. Keith attended the Freshness’s Fair, where he would learn all about the clubs and societies that undergraduates could join, and perhaps find something to his liking. As the weeks passed, and every Tuesday evening the members of the Labor Club were subjected to Keith’s views on the monarchy, private schools, the honors system and elitism of Oxford and Cambridge, he became known as Comrade Keith. His mother wrote him regularly, suggested that he should take advantage of his vacation by traveling extensively through Europe, as he might never get another chance to do so. He took his mother’s advice and drove on towards the German capital. Keith knew only a few words of German, so he finally held his hand in the air with his palm open, hoping the porter would understand that he wished to stay for five nights.

Keith had already decided to organized his time so that he could spend a day sector of the divided city; he planned to visit the Russian sector last, so he could compare it with the three controlled by Allies. He climbed the five floors to the PISC office. He introduced himself as a journalist with Oxford Mail and he had been commissioned to write a series of articles on conditions in Berlin. He already wrote a letter before to director. But unfortunately the director, Captain Armstrong was visiting Russian sector. He spent the rest of day exploring the British sector, stopping frequently to make notes on anything he considered newsworthy. The way the British behaved towards the defeated Germans, empty shops trying to serve too many customers; queues for food on every street corner; bowed heads whenever you tried to look a German in the eye.

He was back another day, but Captain Armstrong has had fly to England unexpectedly. He wanted to return to Australia on the day after he learned his exam results, but his father wouldn’t hear of it. Lord Graham expected him go and work for old friend at the express.

Schultz shuffled nervously from foot to foot in the presence of the towering British officer. Three months after Armstrong met Arno Schultz for the first time, Der Telegraf was regularly coming out six days in a week, and he was able to report to Colonel Oakshott that the circulation had passed 200.000 copies. The colonel simply gave the compliment to the young captain. Dick began discussing with Charlotte the possibility of returning to England. He intended to hand the whole operation over to Arno, but he just found out Der Telegraf wasn’t owned by Schultz.

Soon after Hitler came to power, he passed a law which disqualified Jews from owning newspaper. Schultz was forced to dispose of his shares to a third party. An old friend of him, named Klaus Lauber. His family were moved to Berlin soon after the bombing. It took Sally three days to confirm that Major Klaus Otto Lauber was still registered with the Allied Control Commission.  Major Lauber was presently being held in internment camp just outside Bridgend, where she spent the last three years. They found he died two weeks ago. Lauber was sent back to Berlin in a coffin. 

Keith’s father dies

Keith took over his late father position as publisher. He called the deputy circulation manager and made it clear from the outset that he was only interested in the result. A sport editor who took three weeks off in the middle of the crcket season probably wouldn’t even notice if his desk had been replaced when he came back. The sports editor handed his resignation on the day returned. Within hours he had appointed the twenty-five-year-old cricket correspondent to take his place.

Townsend and Susan

Townsend was disappointed to find that his next flight up to Sydney, the girl was nowhere to be seen. When the steward served him with coffee, he asked if she was working on another flight. Susan Glover left the company when she was offered a job at the toy department store.

Major Sergei Tulpanov

Armstrong was shock when a man who must have been about his own age called him Lubji Hoch. The KGB man offered a deal with him behind the British officers. Major Tulpanov reminded the young captain that conquering the language wasn’t the same as knowing how their minds works. The KGB major and Armstrong headed south towards Dresden to meet Mrs. Lauber. The two officers admitted that Lauber asked them to give his wife the briefcase. There followed several items, including a book and an old wooden set. A note that he asked her wife to give the chess set to Arno. In fact, Dick put the money in it. Dick also explained her about Der Telegraf, she even didn’t know about the shares. She insisted her husband was always so meticulous, but perhaps the will had disappeared somewhere in Russian zone. Then Dick handed her the contract, indicated two penciled crosses, and handed Mrs. Lauber his pen. She signed the agreement and brought back the chess set.

The following morning, Captain Richard Armstrong registered his ownership of Der Telegraf with British Commission. Charlotte tried to disguise her true feelings when she was told the news of her husband’s ‘coup’.

The Bankruptcy 

Armstrong has made a bid of $2 billion for Multi Media. It owned fourteen newspapers stretching from Maine to Mexico, nine television stations, and TV News, the biggest-selling magazine in the world. Multi Media has been on autopilot for years. Armstrong has already offered Townsend two billion in cash. Townsend’s lawyer had suspected that Armstrong has made a cash offer. He also thought the robust possibility, Armstrong had called Sir Sinclair, the seventy years old man, who was going to retire, direct. In his lifetime he has built up the most successful privately-owned media corporation in the world. He was the Ambassador to the Court of St James’s when his friend Nixon was president.

Dick had already made him an offer he was able to refuse. Keith intended to finance it in cash, the Ambassador gave him thirty days. The Financial Times wrote the article about the battling Townsend and Armstrong. The press barons Keith Townsend and Richard Armstrong appear to have made the classic mistake of leveraging their borrowings on far too high a ratio against their assets. They both look destined to become case studies for future generations of student at Harvard Business School.  He compounded his mistake by eventually giving such a generous redundancy settlement that union leaders stop calling him ‘Captain Dick’ and started referring to him as ‘Captain Santa’.

Despite the settlement, the paper continued to lose over a million dollars a week. Although agreement on a second package of redundancies and early retirements was thought to be imminent.  

Having agreed terms, Townsend found it extremely difficult to raise the cash within the thirty days stipulated by Sinclair. Armstrong’s committed suicide. He lost at sea for several hours, and some fishermen have just picked up his body off the coast Sardinia. Armstrong’s endless flow of cash came from the company’s pension, which using to buy up his own shares, but also to pay off the unions in New York.  Apparently he discovered there was far more cash in the fund than was legally necessary, so he began siphoning it off at a few million a time, until his chairman found out what he was up to and handed in his resignation.

******

June 3, 2015

Sekapur Sirih

Kisah dari seorang Jahudi yang selamat dari Nazi, anak muda yang bernasib baik, diselamatkan oleh dari beberapa keluarga hingga ditahan dalam kamp internmen di Inggris. Lubji Hoch kelak namanya dikenal dengan Kapten Richard Ian Armstrong (Dick Armstrong), hidupnya sangat bertolak belakang dengan kisah mogul media rivalnya yang lahir dalam genangan uang dan putra pemilik media tersohor dari Australia. Ada secuil kesamaaan, keduanya sama-sama imigran pelarian perang. Sir Graham Townsend ayah Keith, keluarga kaya darah biru dari dari Skotlandia. Bertolak belakang dengan kehidupan kecil Hoch yang serba kekurangan dari penjual sapi miskin di kota kecil di Czechslovakia. Kehidupan Lubji Hoch sangat menarik diikuti.

Penulis adalah berkebangsaan Inggris, salah seorang penulis terlaris di dunia dan beberapa karyanya telah ditayang di layar kaca. Sepertinya karya ini bukanlah karya terbaik darinya, agak sulit dinikmati pada bagian pertengahan buku hingga akhir, terlalu monoton membicarakan angka pembelian media-media yang dimaksud, mengesampingkan hal itu penulisannya bagus.

Buku fiksi setebal 599 halaman sangat tepat bagi para jurnalis maupun dunia jurnalis atau pengusaha media cetak. Karya fiksi yang banyak menggambarkan perang kepemilikan media dan bagaimana geliat para mogul menguasai media cetak.

Ringkasan Terjemahan dalam Bahasa Indonesia: The Fourth Estate (Perang Media) oleh Jeffrey Archer

Diawali dengan kegelisahan Richard Armstrong berkebangsaan Inggris, seorang mogul media yang tengah menghadapi kebangkrutan. Manakala mogul media berdarh biru Keith Towsend asal Australia juga tengah resah dalam bisnis medianya.

Lubji Hoch lelaki muda berusia lima belas tahun berdarah Jahudi harus berpisah dari keluarga dan meninggalkan tanah kelahirannya di sebuah kota kecil bernama Douski, terletak pada perbatasan tiga negara: Czech, Romania, dan Polandia. Ia tidak mengetahui persis tanggal lahirnya, tidak ada kertas yang bisa membuktikannya, hanya saja yang pasti ia lebih tua hanya setahun dari adik lelakinya dan beberapa tahun dengan adik perempuannya.

Ia lahir dan dibesarkan di sebuah pondok hadiah pemberian paman dari ibunya. Paman ibunya seorang rabi. Awalnya sang paman tidak setuju keponakannya menikahi Hoch, kehamilan gadis pintar itu tidak bisa mengingkari keadaan.

Lubji kecil kerap diajak ayahnya ke pasar berjualan sapi, ia disuruh menjaga barang-barang dan sapi ketika ayahnya melakukan transaksi. Ayahnya hanya menguasai bahasa Czech, sehingga manakala calon pembeli berbahasa Czeh, ia langsung saja melepas dagangannya walau harganya tidak terlalu menguntungkan. Mulanya Lubji sempat bingung dengan bahasa-bahasa asing di telinganya,  namun ia cepat mempelajari bahwa bahasa adalah modal untuk mendapat untung lebih baik. 

Ia kerap kembali ke pasar memerhatikan para pedagang. Suatu ketika ia hendak membelikan sebuah bros untuk ibunya. Pemilik toko seorang Yahudi tua hanya senyum, saat bocah itu meogoh recehnya, jumlahnya sangat kurang. Anak itu punmalu, pemilik toko meyuruhnya kembali keesokan hari. Akhirnya Lubji berteman dengan Jahudi tua itu. Ia banyak belajar dagang, usia enam tahun ia sudah punya lapak sendiri walau hanya setengah hari. Bahkan ia sudah mampu membantu membiayai keluarga. Sebenarnya ia lebih memilih berdagang daripada disuruh bersekolah.

Putra pedagang sapi miskin itu harus berangkat ke kota lain, Ostrava, untuk menempuh pendidikan. Ibunya sangat bangga padanya, selain rajin, anak pertamyanya itu juga pintar. Sebelum keberangkatannya ia sudah baca dari koran milik paman buyutnya tentang sosok Adolf Hitler. Hanya beberapa bulan di perantauan tentara Hitler pun memasuki wilayah Czeh.

Ia berjuang melarikan diri seratus delapan puluh kilometer menghindari Czeh menuju ke Hungaria, yang ia anggap aman. Setelah berhasi berjalan kaki menyurusi lembah dan bukit, bersama pengungsi Jahudi lainnya, ia menemukan dirinya terbangun di sebuah sinagog. Tersadar dari kelelahan berhari-hari mencapai Hungaria. Hal pertama dilakukannya adalah mencari pasar. Dengan pakaian yang kumal dan tidur di emperan, membuat ia susah mendapatkan pekerjaan.

Seorang wanita berkalung Bintang Daud melewatinya, ia mengikuti wanita pedagang. Wanita itu memiliki kios koran berada di sudut pasar. Lubji pun akhirnya bekerja pada wanita itu, ia sangat giat, bahkan tinggal di rumah wanita itu. Wanita itu dan suaminya memperlakukannya seperti anak sendiri. Lubji rajin dan lincah dalam menjual, kios pun semakin laris. Tuan Farkas agen koran di seberang menawarinya pekerjaan sebagai asisten manajer dengan janji gaji besar dan kamar yang lebih besar. Lubji menolaknya, juga menceritakan hal itu pada wanita itu dan suaminya, sebelum keduanya mendengar dari orang lain.

Lemparan batu pertama pada kios mengejutkan dan lama-lama semakin sering. Pembeli pun berkurang, menyeberang ke toko Tn. Farkas. Puncaknya tentara Hitler telah memasuki kota itu. Lubji menanyakan tawaran Tn. Farkas kembali, tetapi lelaki itu hanya melontarkan jawaban pahit, ia tidak akan memberikan pekerjaan pada seorang Jahudi. Ia pun teralah berencana melarikan diri sebelum ditangkap tentara Hitler, namun Tn. Farkas telah melaporkannya. Ia pun akan segara dikirim ke penjara. Dalam perjalana lori, ia berhasil melompat dari lori dalam kegelapan semak-semak.

Rombongan Gipsi menyelamatkannya. Gadis Gipsi muda yang merawatnya dan menyuapinya selama sakit telah memberi warna baru pada hidupnya. Sentuhan wanita yang menyemangati hidup dan memberinya kebahagiaan, walau hanya dalam beberapa minggu. Setelah pulih dan baru menyadari karavan telah memasuki Yugoslavia, ia ingin mencari pelabuhan terdekat, hendak melarikan diri sejauh mungkin dari kejaran Hitler, ke Mesir. Apalagi Mesir mengingatkannya pada kisah Musa dan Tanah Perjanjian.  

Dia baru meyadari kapal telah berlabuh di tanah Inggris, Liverpool. Pemuda berusia belasan itu tidak bisa sama sekali tidak bisa berbahasa Inggris. Pihak imigrasi pun memasukkannya dalam kamp intermen, berharap nanti selepas masa perang dikembalikan ke Czech.  Selama dalam kamp ia memerhatikan wanita tua pengantar koran ke penampungan intermen. Dengan bantuan wanita Inggris pembawa koran itu, ia akhirnya mulai menguasai bahasa itu. Dia juga dipekerjakan, membantu wanita itu. Dengan cepat wanita Inggris itu menilai Lubji seorang anak yang rajin juga terlihat pernah bekerja pada agen koran.

Karena Inggris kekurangan tentara, Inggris melakukan rekrutmen ke penampungan. Hoch pun dikirim untuk dilatih melawan tentara Jerman pada tenrata Jerman. Didasari kebenciannya terhadap tentara Jerman yang sudah membunuh keluarganya dan kelompok Jahudi sekampungnya dan sedarahnya di seluruh Eropah membuatnya sangat bersemangat menghabisi musuh. Dia berhasil memiliki pangkat kapten. Atas usul atasannya, karena namanya aneh sempat dirubah menjadi John Player, terakhir namanya dikenal dengan Kapten Richard Ian Armstrong. Dia adalah kapten yang sangat disegani dan ditakuti pihak lawan.

Setelah Jerman meneyerah tanpa syarat, ia ditawari membawahi media dalam Komisi Pengawasan Sekutu di Berlin. Dia akhirnya memiki Koran Jerman sebagai bisnis pertamnya dan berkembang hingga bisnis lain dan menghantarnya menjadi seorang mogul. Media-media Eropah yang dimiliki para mogul Jerman berhasil dimilikinya. Hanya segelintir yang mengetahui latar belakangnya sebagai seorang Jahudi.

Keith Townsend seorang putra pemilik media di Australia berdarah Skotlandia, dimana kakeknya melarikan diri ke Australia akibat pertikaian Inggris dan Skotlandia. Pemuda berdarah biru, lahir dari genangan uang disekolahkan ke Oxford Inggris untuk belajar ekonomi yang dikader ayahnya untuk melanjutkan usahanya. Lelaki yang sangat ambisius, bahkan hari pernikahannya pun dipertaruhkan.

Amstrong dan Towsend selalu menjadi rival dalam penguasaan media-media ternama di dunia. Perang kepemilikan sederetan  media kerap terjadi di antara mereka  seperti koran-koran ini: the Times, Ocean Times, Sidney Morning Heralds, Adelaide Gazette, Daily Mirror, Sidney Morning Herald, the Sun, Der Telegraf, New York Times, the New York Tribune, the Citizen, dan masih banyak lagi.

Perdebatan di televisi, menjadi bahan topik di majalah-majalah bisnis, dan kiprah bisnis keduanya dijadikan bahan kajian perkuliahan sekolah Bisnis Harvard. Armstrong salah dalam mengambil langkah bisnisnya, ia banyak menerbitkan kebijakan yang akhirnya mengubah namanya dari Kapten Armstrong menjadi menjadi Kapten Santa, dimana ia memberikan dana pensiun dengan regulasi yang tidak ketat. Itulah awal kebangkrutannya dan ia menarik dana secara illegal dari dana para buruh. Nelayan menemukannya tewas di laut Sardinia, dan diduga ia telah bunuh diri. Keith Townsend yang tadinya berambisi menyaingi Armstrong untuk memiliki perusahaan-perusahaan media sebanyak mungkin mengurungkan niatnya menyaksikan kejadian yang menimpa Armstong.

*****

3 Juni 2015