Will they succumb to the allure of short-term financial gain, as did the Bancrofts, the family owners of the Wall Street Journal, when Rupert Murdoch came calling?

Apart from the slim chance that the Bancrofts would put tradition and principle before money, the biggest risk to Mr Murdoch was that another buyer, more acceptable to the family, would appear.

“War at the Wall Street Journal” reveals just how carefully Mr Murdoch courted the Bancrofts and Dow Jones, arranging breakfasts and dispatching e-mails and emissaries—even before making his offer.