About the Author

Nicky Hager is known internationally for his investigative writing. US intelligence expert Jeffrey Richelson described his 1996 book Secret Power, on global intelligence systems, a 'masterpiece of investigative reporting'. That investigation won a US journalism award and led to a year-long European Parliament inquiry. Since then his books, contributions to books and articles have been published in many countries. John Pilger wrote that he is 'quite simply one of the world's best investigative journalists.' His 1999 book Secret and Lies exposed an unscrupulous public relations campaign and his 2002 book Seeds of Distrust was a study of political management of the controversial genetic engineering issue. His fourth book, The Hollow Men, was a detailed expose of three years of politics within the conservative New Zealand National Party. This book, which prompted the resignation of the party leader on the day it was released, has since been adapted into a successful stage play and feature-length documentary film. All these books were best sellers and The Hollow Men was, in December 2009, judged one of the top ten New Zealand non-fiction books of the decade by the New Zealand Herald. He has degrees in physics and philosophy and lives in Wellington.