The Panama Papers - by Frederik Obermaier & Bastian Obermayer (Paperback)

About the Book

The inside story from the journalists who set the investigation in motion

Book Synopsis

From the winners of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting

11.5 million documents sent through encrypted channels. The secret records of 214,000 offshore companies. The largest data leak in history.

In early 2015, an anonymous whistle-blower led investigative journalists Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier into the shadow economy where the super-rich hide billions of dollars in complex financial networks. Thus began the ground-breaking investigation that saw an international team of 400 journalists work in secret for a year to uncover cases involving heads of state, politicians, businessmen, big banks, the mafia, diamond miners, art dealers and celebrities. A real-life thriller, The Panama Papers is the gripping account of how the story of the century was exposed to the world.

Review Quotes

'The biggest leak in the history of data journalism'--Edward Snowden

'The fascinating struggle of David against Goliath... A brilliantly written book.'-- "Frankfurter Rundschau"

'This is the inside story of how governments, corporations and organised crime groups have used the secret world of offshore jurisdictions to engage in systematic cheating and thieving. It's an almost perfect tale for the 21st century - the failure of democracy, the triumph of commercial power and greed, greed, greed.'--Nick Davies, special correspondent, Guardian

'With precision and purpose, The Panama Papers is what "Follow the Money" means.'--Bob Woodward, The Washington Post

'A tale of fearless and careful reporting.'-- "Financial Times"

'Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier, the authors of this powerful, lucid, book, show us how the very rich hide their money...They should make journalists proud - and may even help to make the world a better place.'-- "Peter Oborne, New Statesman"

'The authors expose a shockingly corrupt system...[an] important indictment of the shadow economy that flourishes even as the legitimate economy suffers.'-- "Kirkus"

'Their book should be read in journalism schools as well as by tax authorities.'-- "New York Review of Books"

'This is an extremely important book - this decade's most important rather than this year's.'-- "Times Literary Supplement"

About the Author

Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer are award-winning investigative journalists at Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany's largest broadsheet. The first people to have access to the Panama Papers, they were previously part of the international team of journalists who revealed the Offshore Leaks, Luxembourg Leaks and Swiss Leaks. In 2017, they received the Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting, and were finalists in International Reporting.