Overview

*Winner of the European Award for Investigative And Judicial Journalism and Premio Alessandro Leogrande Award 2022* 'I want to live in a society where secret power is accountable to the law and to public opinion for its atrocities, where it is the war criminals who go to jail, not those who have the conscience and courage to expose them.' It is 2008, and Stefania Maurizi, an investigative journalist with a growing interest in cryptography, starts looking into the little-known organisation WikiLeaks. Through hushed meetings, encrypted files and explosive documents, what she discovers sets her on a life-long journey that takes her deep into the realm of secret power. Working closely with WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange and his organisation for her newspaper, Maurizi has spent over a decade investigating state criminality protected by thick layers of secrecy, while also embarking on a solitary trench warfare to unearth the facts underpinning the cruel persecution of Assange and WikiLeaks. With complex and disturbing insights, Maurizi's tireless journalism exposes atrocities, the shameful treatment of Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, on up to the present persecution of WikiLeaks: a terrifying web of impunity and cover-ups. At the heart of the book is the brutality of secret power and the unbearable price paid by Julian Assange, WikiLeaks and truthtellers.

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9780745347615

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Reviews

'Contains a wealth of details, with the civil passion and the healthy democratic fury of those who have worked on the material brought to light by the Assange organisation for over a decade' -- Valigia Blu 'A gripping, first-hand account of the Assange affair. If you want to know more about Wikileaks, read this book. Maurizi has worked for years with Wikileaks and has used her first-hand knowledge to write an inside account of the revelations of Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden and Assange himself. Heroes or villains? Whistleblowers or traitors? Maurizi has no doubt and makes no pretence of sitting on the fence. I thoroughly recommend this readable, informative, and rather scary book' -- Gavin Jones, 'Reuters' Rome correspondent 'An extraordinary book' -- 'Presa Diretta' 'Stefania Maurizi's revelation of the role of the UK Crown Prosecution Service, then run by Keir Starmer, in the persecution of Julian Assange was a journalistic landmark. Her book is a lesson to all who expose the malign secrets of state power' -- John Pilger 'Heroic freedom-fighter or maverick controversialist - Assange is a polarising character. But we can all agree that the classified documents he published revealed much of the heinous barbarity of the post 9/11 US-led wars. This book is a passionate plea in Julian's defence. To extradite would send the message that no journalist or publisher is safe anywhere in the world' -- Kathy Lette, best-selling author and TV presenter

'Contains a wealth of details, with the civil passion and the healthy democratic fury of those who have worked on the material brought to light by the Assange organisation for over a decade' -- Valigia Blu 'A gripping, first-hand account of the Assange affair. If you want to know more about Wikileaks, read this book. Maurizi has worked for years with Wikileaks and has used her first-hand knowledge to write an inside account of the revelations of Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden and Assange himself. Heroes or villains? Whistleblowers or traitors? Maurizi has no doubt and makes no pretence of sitting on the fence. I thoroughly recommend this readable, informative, and rather scary book' -- 'Reuters' 'An extraordinary book' -- 'Presa Diretta'

'The vindictive hounding of Julian Assange by the US government deserves as wide an audience as possible. There is no journalist better placed to tell the story than Stefania Maurizi, who has been following the story closely for more than a decade and personally knows most of those involved. But what stands out is her sheer perseverance, through which she uncovered lots of new information.' -- Ewen MacAskill, Pulitzer Prize winner for Public Service 'A rigorous, compelling and highly readable reconstruction of the WikiLeaks case. I highly recommend this work. No one conveys better the urgency of averting the extradition and prosecution of Assange' -- Daniel Ellsberg, US whistleblower who leaked the Pentagon Papers 'Maurizi's relentless, rigorous and courageous work has produced compelling evidence for the flagrant and deliberate illegality of Julian Assange's persecution. She has decisively contributed to my official investigation into the case as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture' -- Professor Nils Melzer, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture (2016-2022) 'Stefania Maurizi's book on the persecution of Julian Assange is the definitive text on this tragedy. To read it is to resist, it is a must read. Free Assange' -- Roger Waters, co-founder of Pink Floyd 'Stefania Maurizi's revelation of the role of the UK Crown Prosecution Service, then run by Keir Starmer, in the persecution of Julian Assange was a journalistic landmark. Her book is a lesson to all who expose the malign secrets of state power' -- John Pilger 'Heroic freedom-fighter or maverick controversialist - Assange is a polarising character. But we can all agree that the classified documents he published revealed much of the heinous barbarity of the post 9/11 US-led wars. This book is a passionate plea in Julian's defence. To extradite would send the message that no journalist or publisher is safe anywhere in the world' -- Kathy Lette, best-selling author and TV presenter 'Everything you think you know about this story is not what you think. Maurizi brilliantly tells the real story of what happened with WikiLeaks and the powers that went out to destroy it' -- John Goetz, Editor of Investigations at German State Broadcaster 'NDR' 'The best possible tribute to Julian Assange's sacrifice on behalf of Western citizens whose governments have been committing, in their name, crimes against humanity. Stefania Mauitzi has sacrificed much to write this book, making it a book to read, behold and promote to anyone who cares about the truth' -- Yanis Varoufakis, Professor of Economics at the University of Athens 'An exceptional book by an exceptional journalist. Written like a political thriller, 'Secret Power' is not only one of the best accounts of the WikiLeaks revolution and the man behind it. It's also a deeply disturbing investigation into the military-intelligence complex and secret power determined to dismantle the last strongholds of democracy, namely freedom of the press' -- Srecko Horvat, philosopher and author of 'Poetry from the Future' 'The story of the aftermath of the biggest story in journalism in generations brilliantly laid out by Maurizi. A must read for everyone interested in finding out how democratic and free, the 'free and democratic west' indeed is.' -- Helgi Seljan, investigative journalist at 'Stundin' 'A gripping first-hand account of the Assange affair' -- Gavin Jones, senior Reuters correspondent in Rome

'The vindictive hounding of Julian Assange by the US government deserves as wide an audience as possible. There is no journalist better placed to tell the story than Stefania Maurizi, who has been following the story closely for more than a decade and personally knows most of those involved. But what stands out is her sheer perseverance, through which she uncovered lots of new information.' -- Ewen MacAskill, Pulitzer Prize winner for Public Service 'A rigorous, compelling and highly readable reconstruction of the WikiLeaks case. I highly recommend this work. No one conveys better the urgency of averting the extradition and prosecution of Assange' -- Daniel Ellsberg, US whistleblower who leaked the Pentagon Papers 'Maurizi's relentless, rigorous and courageous work has produced compelling evidence for the flagrant and deliberate illegality of Julian Assange's persecution. She has decisively contributed to my official investigation into the case as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture' -- Professor Nils Melzer, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture (2016-2022) 'Stefania Maurizi's revelation of the role of the UK Crown Prosecution Service, then run by Keir Starmer, in the persecution of Julian Assange was a journalistic landmark. Her book is a lesson to all who expose the malign secrets of state power' -- John Pilger 'Heroic freedom-fighter or maverick controversialist - Assange is a polarising character. But we can all agree that the classified documents he published revealed much of the heinous barbarity of the post 9/11 US-led wars. This book is a passionate plea in Julian's defence. To extradite would send the message that no journalist or publisher is safe anywhere in the world' -- Kathy Lette, best-selling author and TV presenter 'Everything you think you know about this story is not what you think. Maurizi brilliantly tells the real story of what happened with WikiLeaks and the powers that went out to destroy it' -- John Goetz, Editor of Investigations at German State Broadcaster 'NDR' 'The best possible tribute to Julian Assange's sacrifice on behalf of Western citizens whose governments have been committing, in their name, crimes against humanity. Stefania Mauitzi has sacrificed much to write this book, making it a book to read, behold and promote to anyone who cares about the truth' -- Yanis Varoufakis, Professor of Economics at the University of Athens 'An exceptional book by an exceptional journalist. Written like a political thriller, 'Secret Power' is not only one of the best accounts of the WikiLeaks revolution and the man behind it. It's also a deeply disturbing investigation into the military-intelligence complex and secret power determined to dismantle the last strongholds of democracy, namely freedom of the press' -- Srecko Horvat, philosopher and author of 'Poetry from the Future' 'The story of the aftermath of the biggest story in journalism in generations brilliantly laid out by Maurizi. A must read for everyone interested in finding out how democratic and free, the 'free and democratic west' indeed is.' -- Helgi Seljan, investigative journalist at 'Stundin' 'A gripping first-hand account of the Assange affair' -- Gavin Jones, senior Reuters correspondent in Rome 'An extraordinary book' -- 'Presa Diretta' 'Contains a wealth of details, with the civil passion and the healthy democratic fury of those who have worked on the material brought to light by the Assange organisation for over a decade' -- Valigia Blu

'Contains a wealth of details, with the civil passion and the healthy democratic fury of those who have worked on the material brought to light by the Assange organisation for over a decade' -- Valigia Blu

Author Information

Stefania Maurizi is an Italian investigative journalist working for the daily Il Fatto Quotidiano, having previously reported for La Repubblica and l'Espresso. She began working with Julian Assange and WikiLeaks in 2009 for her newspaper. Among international journalists, she is the only one who has worked on the entirety of the WikiLeaks secret documents and the only one who has conducted a multi-jurisdictional litigation to defend the right of the press to access the full documentation on the WikiLeaks case. Ken Loach was born in 1936 in Nuneaton. After a brief spell in the theatre, Loach was recruited by the BBC in 1963 as a television director. This launched a long career directing films for television and the cinema, from Cathy Come Home and Kes in the sixties to Land And Freedom, Sweet Sixteen, The Wind That Shakes The Barley (Palme d’Or, Cannes Film Festival 2006), Looking for Eric, The Angels’ Share and I, Daniel Blake (Palme d’Or, Cannes Film Festival 2016).

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