Hardback: 'This book uncovers the inner workings of one of the most powerful companies in the world: how it came to exert a poisonous, secretive influence on public life in Britain, how it used its huge power to bully, intimidate and cover up, and how its exposure has changed the way we look at our politicians, our police service and our press.'
Rupert Murdoch's newspapers had been hacking phones, blagging information and casually destroying people's lives for years, but it was only after a trivial report about Prince William's knee in 2005 that detectives stumbled on a criminal conspiracy.
A five-year cover-up concealed and muddied the truth.
Dial M for Murdoch (2012) gives the first connected account of the extraordinary lengths to which the Murdochs' News Corporation went to 'put the problem in a box' (in James Murdoch's words), how its efforts to maintain and extend its power were aided by its political and police friends, and how it was finally exposed.
This book is full of details which have never been disclosed before, including the smears and threats against politicians, journalists and lawyers.
It reveals the existence of brave insiders who pointed those pursuing the investigation towards pieces of secret information that cracked open the case.
By contrast, many of the main players in the book are unsavoury, but by the end of it you have a clear idea of what they did.
'In the end, the story is about corruption by power. Some of Murdoch's enforcers departed from the company line (it's all about business) and pursued personal agendas and vendettas, even against minor politicians. Their arrogance was so stratospheric they discussed their crimes even though they knew they were being recorded. They thought they could destroy the evidence, threaten and cover up. They thought they were cleverer than everyone else; they thought they were untouchable. From the criminal underworld to the headquarters of London's police force, from the decks of yachts in the Mediterranean to farmhouses in the Cotswolds and the deep-carpeted rooms of Downing Street, they had spun an invisible web of connections and corruption. They listened to phone messages, of course, but they also blagged, bribed, spied and bullied and imposed their will through blackmail, corruption and intimidation... Rupert Murdoch was not running a normal business, but a shadow state.'
Seeing the story whole, as it is presented here for the first time, allows the character of the organization it portrays to emerge unmistakeably.
You will hardly believe it.
About the authors: Tom Watson is the MP for West Bromwich East. He campaigns against unlawful media practices and led the questioning of Rupert and James Murdoch when they appeared before Parliament in July 2011. He is the deputy chair of the Labour Party.
Martin Hickman has worked for the Independent since 2001, and has driven the paper's coverage of the phone hacking scandal. He was named Journalist of the Year by the Foreign Press Association in 2009.
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