In 1970, Howard Hughes was one of the richest men in America. A recluse for many years, he was as noteworthy for his reputed eccentricity as for his wealth. Little wonder, then, that the announcement of a Hughes autobiography by Life magazine and the publishing firm of McGraw-Hill on 7 December 1971 drew a great deal of publicity. The autobiography, as told to author Clifford Irving, was to be published on 7 March 1972, with portions to appear beforehand in Life.

Irving was not well known at the end of 1971, but early in the following year he became famous. Claiming to have based the book on many hours of secret meetings conducted "throughout the Western Hemisphere," Irving was at first treated with caution, since previous efforts by others to get to Hughes had been frustrated by legal threats and his own obdurately kept privacy. Hughes did not...