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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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)
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“[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)
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“Davies is the perfect person to corral this massive
plume of facts and evasions into a single volume.”
— Washington Post
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“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
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“[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)
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“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)
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“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)
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“Davies…makes Captain Ahab and Inspector Javert look
like quitters.”
— Slate
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“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
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“The reporter who broke Britain’s phone-hacking scandal probes the media
industry’s corrupt nexus of power and propaganda in this searing exposé…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)
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“Reads like a detective novel and will be of great interest to both journalists and students of media studies.”
— Library Journal
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“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
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“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