5 Of The Best Books About Journalism

The definitive book to emerge so far on the phone hacking scandal began as a series of articles for The Guardian in 2008. Reporter Nick Davies seeks to expose the full extent of the illegal goings on behind the scenes at The News Of The World, before taking on News International as a whole, with the help of empathetic politicians, police officers willing to speak off the record and the Labour MP Tom Watson.

As well as the phone hacking (and Scotland Yard's failure to properly investigate the scandal), Davies takes a measured and comprehensive approach to his investigation of Fleet Street journalism, detailing the culture of bullying, drugs, sex, alcohol and obsessive power (led from Murdoch down) that led Andy Coulson et al to believe they could get away with abusing their position for so long.

Hack Attack (Random House) is out now priced £9.98

Another investigation into Rupert Murdoch's media empire, this time focusing on his acquisition of The Sun in 1969 and hiring of former Daily Mail editor Sir Larry Lamb as editor.

Together the two set about reimagining the paper with a marketing strategy can be summarised in a single word, "sex" (although not homosexuality – Murdoch thought it would be bad for sales, asking "Do you really think the readers are interested in poofters?"). From the hiring of female journalists named "The Pacesetters" and their "Willie Wall", to the introduction of page three nudity, Horrie and Chippindale present an absorbing account of the newspaper and the men who redefined tabloid journalism.

Stick It Up Your Punter: The Uncut Story Of The Sun (Faber & Faber) £18.00

The investigation that spawned the film that spawned a thousand careers in journalism, All The President's Men is Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward and author and professor Carl Bernstein's account of their investigation into the Watergate scandal.

Expanding upon the pair's original articles for The Washington Post, the book follows the investigation from Woodard's initial report of the Watergate break-in to the revelation of the Nixon tapes, and sheds light on Woodward's confidential meetings with source Deep Throat (recently revealed to be FBI associate director Mark Felt).

Robert Redford was said to have been instrumental in the writing of the book after purchasing the rights to the pair's newspaper columns, insisting it focus on the journalist's investigation, rather than the wider scandal. This is the story of arguably the biggest scoop of them all: one that led to the resignation of a president.

All The President's Men (Simon & Schuster). £15.26

In Good Times, Bad Times former Sunday Times editor Harold Evans paints a startling and contrasting picture of the Times of London company under two vastly different regimes. In 1981 the Sunday Times was flourishing under Evans' guidance. The same year Rupert Murdoch bought the Times of London and persuaded Evans to take the top job at the daily edition. Evans would quit after a year of conflict with Murdoch. His book, published 31 years later, chronicles Murdoch's ascension to the rank of global media magnate. A gripping and raw account of a man prepared to use the power of media to advance his own ends.

Good Times, Bad Times (BSB) £16.57

It takes a lot of commitment to be a journalist, but Frank Gardner may have set the standard. A champion of the Arab world, Gardner was one of a pair of BBC journalists reporting on Al-Qaeda from Saudi Arabia in 2004, when representatives of the terrorist group shot them down, paralysing Gardner and killing his cameraman Simon Cumbers.

After surviving six bullet wounds, Gardner is confined to a wheelchair with no movement from the knees down and a range of health problems – none of which stopped him from returning to work a year after the incident to write this first hand account of his experiences.

It is this journey that Blood And Sand documents, opening with Gardner and Cumbers attack and cumulating with Gardner's heroic (yet painful) ongoing recovery. Despite Gardner's experiences, Blood And Sand remains optimistic about the Arab world and stresses the misconceptions most people have about both Islam and people learning to live with physical disability. A firm but balanced account of one man's life spent reporting from the fringes of one the most dangerous places on Earth.

Blood And Sand (Bantam) £6.79