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Pacelle's book "traces the decade-long battle for control of the Empire State Building, in which real estate tycoons from the United States and Japan accused one another of various forms of deceit and criminality." The author reveals how Hideki Yokoi, a controversial Japanese tycoon, managed to buy the building without disclosing his identity to the seller, Prudential Insurance Co. The book follows the labyrinth of accusations, lawsuits and jailings stemming from the ownership battles, and reports on the involvement of "such well-known New York real estate people as Donald Trump and Leona Helmsley."