Hack Attack: How the truth caught up with Rupert Murdoch - Hardcover

Davies, Nick

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0701187301 ISBN 13: 9780701187309

Publisher: Chatto & Windus, 2014

Synopsis

A SUNDAY TIMES TOP 5 BESTSELLER
LONGLISTED FOR THE SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE 2014
SHORTLISTED FOR THE FT BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2014
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 2015

'Nick Davies is Britain’s greatest investigative journalist... This book is as exciting as a thriller but far more important.' Peter Oborne, Daily Telegraph
At first, it seemed like a small story. The royal editor of the News of the World was caught listening to the voicemail messages of staff at Buckingham Palace. In 2007 he and a private investigator were sentenced to prison and the case was closed. But Nick Davies felt sure there was more to it and began his painstaking investigation which ultimately exposed a world of crime and cover-up, of fear and favour – reaching all the way to the top.

This book is the definitive, inside story of one of the major scandals of our age. Drawing on exclusive interviews with private investigators, journalists, politicians, police officers and Murdoch executives, it blows the lid off Fleet Street, Scotland Yard – and Downing Street. It tells for the first time how Davies and a network of rebel lawyers, MPs and celebrities took on Rupert Murdoch, one of the most powerful men in the world. It takes us into the newsroom of the News of the World and exposes the bullying and law-breaking that went on there, and into the underworld of the private investigators who hacked phones, listened to live calls and bribed the police. It discloses how News International attempted to protect itself with lies and money; how the press regulator floundered; and the history of failure and official secrecy inside police ranks. Above all, this book paints an intimate portrait of the power elite which gave Murdoch privileged access to government, and allowed him and his people to intimidate anyone who stood up to them.

Hack Attack is a nail-biting account of an investigative journalist’s quest, and is a shining example of the might of good journalism. It tells the story of what happened when truth caught up with power.

About this title

Review:

"This is the book we’ve been waiting for, the thrilling and important inside story of how a single reporter came through with the truth of the hacking scandals. He exposed shameful intrusions, the years of deceit, lies, and bullying. And he did more. He revealed a rottenness at the heart of British life in the relations of press, police, and Parliament, institutions that, taken as a whole, failed the big test. Hack Attack is an indictment of the worst of journalism, but is itself an exhilarating demonstration of how the best of journalism―hard-won, honest reporting―is the lifeblood of any democracy." (Sir Harold Evans)

"First in the Guardian and now in this book, the reporting of Nick Davies has revealed the insidious abuse of power―and the public trust―by the Murdoch press from the top down. The British hacking scandal is the ultimate expression of Murdoch-culture run amok: corruption in the Fourth Estate as dangerous to democracy as the worst excesses of heads of state. " (Carl Bernstein)

"This has all the elements – lying, corruption, blackmail – at the highest levels of government by the biggest newspaper in London. And the fact that it’s true is the best part. Nick is a brave and stubborn reporter and we consider it an honor to put his book to film." (George Clooney (who is set to direct the film of the book))

"Nick Davies is Britain’s greatest investigative journalist... This book is as exciting as a thriller but far more important... should be compulsory reading in journalism schools and must be read by anyone who wishes to understand how British politics actually works." (Peter Oborne Telegraph)

"Gripping ...the best account we have of the phone-hacking scandal and the attendant police corruption and cover-ups...A masterly summary of the hacking affair, as well as the ingenuity and persistence that lead to great journalism." (Henry Porter Observer)

"His set pieces...are breathtaking... Hack Attack captures a picture of bullying and nepotism that should be absent from a democratic society" (Martin Hickman The Independent)

"What is revealed here, in painful, careful detail, is a journalism that held power in contempt...Nick Davies has done a colossal service to Britain’s democracy...Hack Attack is the book of a very bold reporter about a passage of arms that he won, to our great benefit." (John Lloyd Financial Times)

"Davies’ account of how Murdoch and his dysfunctional lieutenants ensnared, enslaved, and frightened generations of politicians is blistering." (Will Gore Independent on Sunday)

"THE book to drizzle your Piz Buin on." (Hugh Grant Twitter)

"[Davies] tells a brilliant story [and] takes us through the years of sniffing and delving with energy, determination and resilience" (Peter Preston Observer)

Book Description:

The stand-out, definitive book about phone-hacking, the biggest scandal of our age, told by the man who broke the story

About this edition

• Publisher: Chatto & Windus
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0701187301
• ISBN 13: 9780701187309
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 448