Overview

At first, it seemed like a small story. The royal editor of the News of the World was caught listening to the voice mail messages of staff at Buckingham Palace. He and a private investigator were jailed, and the case was closed. But Nick Davies, special correspondent for the Guardian, knew it didn't add up. He began to investigate and ended up exposing a world of crime and cover-up, of fear and favor-the long shadow of Rupert Murdoch's media empire. Hack Attack is the mesmerizing story of how Davies and a small group of lawyers and politicians took on one of the most powerful men in the world and emerged victorious. It exposes the inner workings of the ruthless machine that was the News of the World and of the private investigators who hacked phones, listened to live calls, sent Trojan horse emails, bribed the police, and committed burglaries to dig up tabloid scoops. Above all, it is a study of the private lives of the power elite. It paints an intimate portrait of the social network that gave Murdoch privileged access to government and allowed him and his lieutenants to intimidate anyone who stood up to them. Spanning the course of the investigation from Davies' contact with his first source in early 2008 to the resolution of the criminal trial in June 2014, this is the definitive record of one of the major scandals of our time, written by the journalist who was there every step of the way.

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9781483080116

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Reviews

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 scandal. 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, editor-at-large at Reuters and former editor of the Sunday Times of London Davies is known for his tenacious grip on his targets and his cutting, vivid writing style...Davies has crafted nothing less than a primer on how to patiently, doggedly investigate a story. -- Kirkus Reviews Reads like a detective novel and will be of great interest to both journalists and students of media studies. -- Library Journal The reporter who broke Britain's phone-hacking scandal probes the media industry's corrupt nexus of power and propaganda in this searing expose...His narrative, studded with new revelations about Fleet Street's spying techniques, flows like a breathless thriller...Davies paints a lurid, gossipy picture of Fleet Street, especially Murdoch's newspapers, whose rabid pursuit of sex and dirt, he argues, serves not just to sell papers but also to smear opponents and sway politics in favor of Murdoch's business interests...This is investigative journalism at its most riveting and provocative. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) This book is a major achievement: a master class in investigative journalism made all the more fascinating by the wealth of color that's like something from another era. -- Columbia Journalism Review Davies...makes Captain Ahab and Inspector Javert look like quitters. -- Slate In his first-hand, panoramic account of the hacking scandal from 2008 to the present day, Nick Davies artfully draws the connections between Murdoch's newspaper group and the officially powerful, and their corrosive impact on the public's interests...Hack Attack captures a picture of bullying and nepotism that should be absent from a democratic society. -- Independent (London) You would expect the Guardian's Nick Davies, who exposed phone hacking and other criminality among News of the World journalists, to write the best full-length account of the scandal, and so he has. He gives us not just the story...but also the story behind the story, explaining how and why he set about exposing the NoW's endemic criminality. -- Guardian (London) [Hack Attack] is important, not simply because it is written by a superb reporter who took on a seemingly invulnerable criminal conspiracy, or because it is...the best account we have of the phone-hacking scandal and the attendant police corruption and cover-ups. It is, as well, the story of modern Britain and how its standards and politics have been degraded by one man's ruthless acquisition of power. Davies has laid it all bare in an exciting, clear and honest narrative. -- Observer (London) Hack Attack is an important reminder of the evils that can result when the media itself becomes so powerful and corrupt that it is accountable to no one-least of all to the public whose interests they are intended to serve. -- Boston Globe Davies is the perfect person to corral this massive plume of facts and evasions into a single volume. -- Washington Post [Nick Davies] has, in his exhumation of this trove of journalistic ordure, 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. -- Financial Times (London) Nick Davies is Britain's greatest investigative journalist...[Hack Attack] is as exciting as a thriller but far more important...This should be compulsory reading in journalism schools and must be read by anyone who wishes to understand how British politics actually works. -- Telegraph (London) Only one reporter has dogged the story from start to finish-deeply sourced among hacking victims, journalists, lawyers, police, and politicians. Davies' associates say he excels because he can comprehend the big political picture but also never forgets the vast trove of small, telling details. -- Los Angeles Times If any one person deserves to place himself squarely at the center of this tale, it is Mr. Davies, who spent three years chipping away at a tower of lies, enduring attacks on his credibility and overcoming stonewalling of the first order to produce his account of tabloid criminality and British officialdom's role in covering it up...As Mr. Davies pursues his quarry, readers are introduced to the seamy underside of Fleet Street, a brutally transactional place of 'casual treachery' where people volunteer 'to sell the secrets of those who most trust them'...It's journalism noir, and it's not surprising that last week George Clooney announced that he plans to direct a film version. -- New York Times There is so much excess and human pathology on display here, it makes Bonfire of the Vanities seem restrained...[Davies] is, as it turns out, just the kind of person you want to have on your tail. It's less about his strategic brilliance and more about an innate refusal to give up-ever. -- New York Times Book Review 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, Puliter Prize-winning investigative journalist

Hack Attack is an important reminder of the evils that can result when the media itself becomes so powerful and corrupt that it is accountable to no one-least of all to the public whose interests they are intended to serve. -- Boston Globe [Hack Attack] is important, not simply because it is written by a superb reporter who took on a seemingly invulnerable criminal conspiracy, or because it is...the best account we have of the phone-hacking scandal and the attendant police corruption and cover-ups. It is, as well, the story of modern Britain and how its standards and politics have been degraded by one man's ruthless acquisition of power. Davies has laid it all bare in an exciting, clear and honest narrative. -- Observer (London) [Nick Davies] has, in his exhumation of this trove of journalistic ordure, 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. -- Financial Times (London) Davies is known for his tenacious grip on his targets and his cutting, vivid writing style...Davies has crafted nothing less than a primer on how to patiently, doggedly investigate a story. -- Kirkus Reviews Davies is the perfect person to corral this massive plume of facts and evasions into a single volume. -- Washington Post Davies...makes Captain Ahab and Inspector Javert look like quitters. -- Slate 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, Puliter Prize-winning investigative journalist If any one person deserves to place himself squarely at the center of this tale, it is Mr. Davies, who spent three years chipping away at a tower of lies, enduring attacks on his credibility and overcoming stonewalling of the first order to produce his account of tabloid criminality and British officialdom's role in covering it up...As Mr. Davies pursues his quarry, readers are introduced to the seamy underside of Fleet Street, a brutally transactional place of 'casual treachery' where people volunteer 'to sell the secrets of those who most trust them'...It's journalism noir, and it's not surprising that last week George Clooney announced that he plans to direct a film version. -- New York Times In his first-hand, panoramic account of the hacking scandal from 2008 to the present day, Nick Davies artfully draws the connections between Murdoch's newspaper group and the officially powerful, and their corrosive impact on the public's interests...Hack Attack captures a picture of bullying and nepotism that should be absent from a democratic society. -- Independent (London) Nick Davies is Britain's greatest investigative journalist...[Hack Attack] is as exciting as a thriller but far more important...This should be compulsory reading in journalism schools and must be read by anyone who wishes to understand how British politics actually works. -- Telegraph (London) Only one reporter has dogged the story from start to finish-deeply sourced among hacking victims, journalists, lawyers, police, and politicians. Davies' associates say he excels because he can comprehend the big political picture but also never forgets the vast trove of small, telling details. -- Los Angeles Times Reads like a detective novel and will be of great interest to both journalists and students of media studies. -- Library Journal The reporter who broke Britain's phone-hacking scandal probes the media industry's corrupt nexus of power and propaganda in this searing expose...His narrative, studded with new revelations about Fleet Street's spying techniques, flows like a breathless thriller...Davies paints a lurid, gossipy picture of Fleet Street, especially Murdoch's newspapers, whose rabid pursuit of sex and dirt, he argues, serves not just to sell papers but also to smear opponents and sway politics in favor of Murdoch's business interests...This is investigative journalism at its most riveting and provocative. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) There is so much excess and human pathology on display here, it makes Bonfire of the Vanities seem restrained...[Davies] is, as it turns out, just the kind of person you want to have on your tail. It's less about his strategic brilliance and more about an innate refusal to give up-ever. -- New York Times Book Review This book is a major achievement: a master class in investigative journalism made all the more fascinating by the wealth of color that's like something from another era. -- Columbia Journalism 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 scandal. 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, editor-at-large at Reuters and former editor of the Sunday Times of London You would expect the Guardian's Nick Davies, who exposed phone hacking and other criminality among News of the World journalists, to write the best full-length account of the scandal, and so he has. He gives us not just the story...but also the story behind the story, explaining how and why he set about exposing the NoW's endemic criminality. -- Guardian (London)

Author Information

Nick Davies is an award-winning investigative reporter and the author of several books, including the bestseller Flat Earth News. He has been named Reporter of the Year, Journalist of the Year, and Feature Writer of the Year at the British Press Awards and has won eight additional prizes for his work uncovering the phone-hacking scandal. He is a special correspondent for the Guardian. Steven Crossley, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, has built a career on both sides of the Atlantic as an actor and audiobook narrator, for which he has won more than a dozen AudioFile Earphones Awards and been a nominee for the prestigious Audie Award. He is a member of the internationally renowned theater company Complicite and has appeared in numerous theater, television, film, and radio dramas.

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