Seymour Hersh Signs Book Deal

NEW YORK – If you think journalist Seymour Hersh (search) is done pillorying the Bush administration, think again.

Hersh, the journalist for The New Yorker widely credited with revealing the Abu Ghraib prison scandal (search), has signed on with HarperCollins Publishers to write a book about his pursuit of the story, the company said.

The details of the deal were not disclosed, but the book, to be titled "Chain of Command" is expected to be published in the fall.

"Sy Hersh has been writing big, important stories for more than 30 years, and we see this book as another milestone in a great career, "HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman said in a statement.

Executive Editor David Hirshey, who will edit the book, said he had pushed Hersh about doing a book for the past four years, but that Hersh had said he too busy with his work for The New Yorker to commit to anything.

"I sensed a real seismic shift in his thinking after Abu Ghraib," Hirshey said. "He has become a man on a mission and feels that a book that holds the Bush administration accountable for its intelligence failures and human rights violations in Iraq could have a significant impact on the upcoming elections."

The scandal involving the abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib facility in Iraq largely became known through a series of articles Hersh wrote — and the pictures that accompanied them.

Hersh has written eight books, including "The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House." (search) Before joining The New Yorker in 1992, Hersh wrote for The New York Times. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1970 for uncovering the My Lai atrocity in the Vietnam War.