The battle between Amazon, the online retailing giant, and Hachette, the international publishing group, has the makings of a plot for a legal thriller by John Grisham. A plucky young upstart eventually finds success, only to fall to the dark side and turn its back on the values it initially pledged to hold dear. The only problem is that in this battle it is not clear which side takes the role of fallen angel.
Amazon wants you to believe that the villain is Hachette, which began life as a bookshop in France in 1826 but is now one of the biggest book publishers in the world and part of Lagardère, a £6 billion media empire. Amazon has pointed out that Hachette has colluded on prices with rival publishers in the past and prevented the public from getting cheaper books.
