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  • Published: 24 July 2014
  • ISBN: 9781448114344
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 480
Categories:

Hack Attack

How the truth caught up with Rupert Murdoch




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

**SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**

Read the definitive inside story of the News International Phone Hacking scandal, told by the man who exposed it.

At first, it seemed like a small story. The royal correspondent of the News of the World was caught listening in on Buckingham Palace voicemails. He was quietly sent to prison and the case was closed.

But Nick Davies felt sure there was a lot more going on.

And he was right.

Davies and a network of rebel lawyers, MPs and celebrities took on Rupert Murdoch, one of the most powerful men in the world, and in bringing him down they uncovered a world of crime and cover-up reaching from the newsroom to Scotland Yard and to Downing Street.

This is the story of a network of corruption rooted deep within our society, and how it was dragged into the light.

'A masterly summary of the hacking affair, as well as the ingenuity and persistence that lead to great journalism' Observer

'This has all the elements - lying, corruption, blackmail - at the highest levels of government by the biggest newspaper in London' George Clooney

  • Published: 24 July 2014
  • ISBN: 9781448114344
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 480
Categories:

About the author

Nick Davies

Nick Davies writes investigative stories for the Guardian, and has been named Journalist of the Year, Reporter of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year in British press awards. Between July 2009 and July 2011, he wrote more than a hundred stories about crime in Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World. He has written six books including White Lies and Dark Heart, and the bestselling Flat Earth News, exposing falsehood and propaganda in news media. Hack Attack is his latest book.

He has three children and lives in Sussex.

Also by Nick Davies

See all

Praise for Hack Attack

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

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

Davies’ account of how Murdoch and his dysfunctional lieutenants ensnared, enslaved, and frightened generations of politicians is blistering.

Will Gore, Independent on Sunday

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

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

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

THE book to drizzle your Piz Buin on.

Hugh Grant, Twitter

Nick Davies' astonishing account of the scandal that engulfed Britain (and Rupert Murdoch) in 2011...a reminder of the power of investigative journalism

Esquire

[Davies] tells a brilliant story [and] takes us through the years of sniffing and delving with energy, determination and resilience

Peter Preston, Observer

A riveting page-turner… Let’s remember that it took a journalist to do the job the authorities had evaded

Ruth Dudley Edwards, Irish Independent

As exciting as a thriller, but far more important

Organized Rage

Riveting… A masterclass in investigative reporting… A story driven by passion and executed with precision

Michael Foley, Irish Times

You would expect [Davies] to write the best full-length account of the [phone-hacking] scandal, and so he has… Vivid and often gripping

Peter Wilby, Guardian

A brave and moral book

Jonathan O'Brien, Sunday Business Post

Gripping… Davies is more intent on changing the world than interpreting it, and the world is a better place for that

Peter Jukes, New Statesman

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)

A page-turner and definitely worth reading

John Waples, PR Week

Excellent… An essential read for anyone who wants to really understand the corrupt forces at work in Britain today

Paul Donovan, Morning Star Online

Shocking beyond anything I could’ve imagined

Empire

Thank goodness for Nick Davies and his ilk, who prove that there are still some principled journalists out there

Crack

Written like a thriller

Socialist Unity

Hack Attack is a page-turner and is definitely worth reading

John Waples, PR Week UK

Utterly compelling

Paul Nolan, Hot Press

If you read one book before the end of the year, make it Hack Attack

Devraj Ray, Mortgage Strategy

The most important book of the year

Tom Stoppard

A fascinating tale

Devraj Ray, Mortgage Strategy

His dogged pursuit of criminal activity on Fleet street and at Scotland Yard is a devastating critique of the way we live

Mayfair Magazine

Bullying, blackmail, coercion, all are exposed by Davies who shows himself to be not only as tenacious as a bulldog but also a lucid and honourable writer

Good Book Guide

Astonishing account of the scandal that engulfed Britain (and Rupert Murdoch) in 2011… It's a reminder of the power of investigative journalism (even when it is investigating itself) to reshape politics and history.

Tom Ward, Esquire