Arthur Brisbane was the most widely known editor, columnist, and writer in the United States in the decades from the Spanish-American War to his death in 1936. When he was hired away from Joseph Pulitzer's New York World by William Randolph Hearst to become editor of the New York Journal, the stage was set for a historic circulation battle. Sensationalism, called "yellow journalism," was deftly employed by Brisbane to earn the Journal an amazing surge in circulation and to earn Brisbane himself an annual salary of $70,000. His salary eventually rose to $260,000, and he was known as the most highly paid journalist of his time. He began a column of news comment in 1917 which was first extended to the Hearst newspaper chain and then syndicated in about 200 dailies and 1,200 weeklies with a circulation totaling about 20,000,000. He continued the column until his death. Probably no other editorial writer was read as...