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Hack Attack: The Inside Story of How the Truth Caught Up with Rupert Murdoch Hardcover – August 12, 2014
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Praise for Hack Attack
“[I]f 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 of ‘Hack Attack’ . . . As Mr. Davies puts it, ‘Power enjoys secrecy, because it increases its scope.’ It takes tenacious muckrakers like Mr. Davies to upend that dynamic.” —Jo Becker, The 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.” —David Carr, The New York Times Book Review
“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.” —Dan Kennedy, The Boston Globe
“Davies is the perfect person to corral this massive plume of facts and evasions into a single volume.” —Erik Wemple, The Washington Post
“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.” —Ray Chittum, Columbia Journalism Review
“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.” —Peter Oborne, The Telegraph
“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
“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.” —Peter Wilby, The Guardian
“[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.” —Henry Porter, The Observer
“Nick Davies, the Guardian reporter who led that newspaper’s lonely (at first) revelations of phone hacking at the News of the World, 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.” —John Lloyd, Financial 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.” —Martin Hickman, The Independent
“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 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 “Davies . . . makes Captain Ahab and Inspector Javert look like quitters.” —Jack Shafer, Slate“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.” —James Rainey, The Los Angeles Times
About the Author
Nick Davies is an award-winning investigative reporter and the author of four books, including the bestselling 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.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By
Ian D. Griffin
on August 18, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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A sprawling cast of characters fill the pages of Hack Attack: the bullying editors and hapless reporters of the Fleet Street tabloid newspapers; members of the Queen's household in Buckingham Palace; prime ministers and members of the government in Whitehall and Downing Street; petty criminals and senior policemen; wide boys and blagging operatives; movers and shakers, celebrities and philanderers; and behind it all the spectral presence of one of the world's most powerful men - media tycoon Rupert Murdoch.
Nick Davies's exhaustively researched expose - subtitled "How the truth caught up with Rupert Murdoch" - details how the press baron and key members of his staff pulled the levers of power in British politics and business during the six years from 2008 to 2014. While denying and lying, they slipped in and out the side-door of Number 10 for drinks with the prime minister, rubbing shoulders with the power elite who lived in fear of the ability of mass circulation newspapers to influence elections and destroy lives.
Davies is the reporter on the left-of-center Guardian newspaper who ran the first stories about the practice of phone hacking. His well-written report reads like a thriller. It is a compulsive page-turner. His bravery in pursuit of the truth is quite startling. One suspects that in any other country than Britain he would have been "disappeared" for dishing the dirt as he has. The scope of the cover-up he exposes makes Woodward and Bernstein, in an earlier era, seem bush league. They had Deep Throat. He has anonymous sources he code-names "Sapphire", "Ovid" and "Jingle". They had a cover-up about one crime, the Watergate break-in.Read more ›
Nick Davies's exhaustively researched expose - subtitled "How the truth caught up with Rupert Murdoch" - details how the press baron and key members of his staff pulled the levers of power in British politics and business during the six years from 2008 to 2014. While denying and lying, they slipped in and out the side-door of Number 10 for drinks with the prime minister, rubbing shoulders with the power elite who lived in fear of the ability of mass circulation newspapers to influence elections and destroy lives.
Davies is the reporter on the left-of-center Guardian newspaper who ran the first stories about the practice of phone hacking. His well-written report reads like a thriller. It is a compulsive page-turner. His bravery in pursuit of the truth is quite startling. One suspects that in any other country than Britain he would have been "disappeared" for dishing the dirt as he has. The scope of the cover-up he exposes makes Woodward and Bernstein, in an earlier era, seem bush league. They had Deep Throat. He has anonymous sources he code-names "Sapphire", "Ovid" and "Jingle". They had a cover-up about one crime, the Watergate break-in.Read more ›
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By
P Stevenson
on August 21, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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Really good work and nice to see the scum who hacked poor little Milly Dowler revealed as the shameful Walter Mitty he is in these pages. One for the Dowlers and the good guys!.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By
Gentle Reader
on August 14, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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I gulped down this riveting, terrifying, hilarious book. Wonderful writing, impressive reporting. Huge fan.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By
Candace Drimmer
on September 12, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Nick Davies does for Rupert Murdoch what Upton Sinclair did for the Chicago slaughterhouses in THE JUNGLE.
If you don't think it affects your media, I have two words for you.
Fox News.
Murdoch is deeply immersed in USA media too, including the always imaginary stories of The New York Post.
Nick Davies does for Rupert Murdoch what Upton Sinclair did for the Chicago slaughterhouses in THE JUNGLE.
If you don't think it affects your media, I have two words for you.
Fox News.
Murdoch is deeply immersed in USA media too, including the always imaginary stories of The New York Post.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By
Book lover -Philadelphia
on October 5, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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A detailed, fascinating, wholly believable book about the hacking of cell phones by Rupert Murdoch's NEWS OF THE WORLD tabloid in order to create stories - and the web of corruption surrounding it.
I followed this story as it developed in the last few years but have to say that Davies' explanation of ALL the facts is far clearer than the newspaper stories. He provides context, insight, quotes (most with speakers identified, some without) and an explanation of the social and business structure of England that makes sense of the entire thing. Given the huge cast of characters (all listed, with their job titles at the beginning), he does a remarkable job of keeping them all straight.
Not a book for one who wants fiction lite but a very satisfying read for one who likes current events and their drama. I started it over the weekend and finished it by Sunday evening, it was that gripping.
Highly recommended.
I followed this story as it developed in the last few years but have to say that Davies' explanation of ALL the facts is far clearer than the newspaper stories. He provides context, insight, quotes (most with speakers identified, some without) and an explanation of the social and business structure of England that makes sense of the entire thing. Given the huge cast of characters (all listed, with their job titles at the beginning), he does a remarkable job of keeping them all straight.
Not a book for one who wants fiction lite but a very satisfying read for one who likes current events and their drama. I started it over the weekend and finished it by Sunday evening, it was that gripping.
Highly recommended.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By
Lionel Faull
on September 4, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
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A wonderful account of how one journalist (and his editor's) persistence and cunning led to the gradual expose of an all-powerful corporation that can only be characterised as pure evil. The only problem with this book is that it's such a sweeping narrative that it's almost impossible not to get lost in the plethora of names of those involved -- especially the cops and journalists. But for anyone who cares about modern society, especially the 21st century corporatisation of the media, this is a must-read.
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By
suzanne fox
on September 17, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
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Couldn't put this book down. What a job of investigative reporting. Felt no stone was unturned. I remember reading a interview with Rupert Murdoch a long time ago, and if I remember correctly he said something like his father founded their first newspaper to expose political corruption. So what happens, he turns out to be one of the most corrupt of all out of greed. I see Mr. Murdoch's influence on this country's news everyday. You will see how he did it when you read the book.
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By
Patricia Danaher
on October 6, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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A terrific and important account of the pointless bullying and coarsening of society by ruthless, ambitious bullies. Nick Davies has done the British public a real service by his painstaking, rigorous, shoe-leather journalism. A very depressing overall picture of thugs at play in the court of Murdoch.
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