Description
An award-winning investigation into the shady world of international shipping, the hidden industry upon which our world turns and our future depends
About the Author
ROSE GEORGE is the author of A Life Removed: Hunting for Refuge in the Modern World (long-listed for the Ulysses Reportage Prize) and The Big Necessity: Adventures in the World of Human Waste (Portobello, 2008; shortlisted for the BMA Book Prize). She contributes regularly to the London Review of Books, the Guardian, the Independent and others. http://rosegeorge.com/site/
Reviews
Arresting, sharply observed, deeply researched and compelling... Plenty of books promise to reveal the secrets of little-known worlds but few actually deliver. This is one that does -- Melanie McGrath * Sunday Telegraph *
From the always intriguing catalogue of Portobello Books, [this book] goes behind the scenes of those mammoth vessels that ply the oceans bringing us all our lovely stuff -- Melissa Katsoulis * Daily Telegraph *
As fascinating as it is troublingly insightful... This is a remarkable work of embedded reportage - hair-raising, witty, compassionate - that deserves to be read -- Sukhdev Sandhu * Guardian *
A marvel of information, insight and intelligence laced with humour, humanity and high spirits -- Iain Finlayson * The Times *
With her precise and beautiful clarity of prose, [George] has now fired a brilliant star-shell over the wine-dark sea and the ships that pass in its night, illuminating the details of the invisible ocean industry that is, and always will be, essential to all of us -- Simon Winchester, author * Atlantic *
Fascinating and insightful * Observer *
A stunningly detailed and absorbing piece of investigative journalism, combined with a gripping and very human account of a long sea journey, with all its loneliness, fears, and moments of magic -- Michael Jacobs, author * Andes *
Beautifully captures the surprising nuances of this little-known world... [George's] strong, spare, gleaming prose steams along, powered by curiosity, compassion, outrage. As a writer, a reporter, and a human being, George is-stand by for nautical term-First Rate -- Mary Roach, author * Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal *
The two greatest stories are supposed to be "A man goes on a journey" and "A stranger comes to town". In this enthralling, literally wide-ranging book, George tells both: she goes on a voyage that few other journalists have accomplished, and she unveils the unknown seafarers who bring us all the world's goods. Sympathetic, deeply reported and unexpectedly poignant -- Maryn McKenna, author * Superbug *
To the classic incredible journeys-Moby Dick, Two Years Before the Mast-George adds another, her voyage round the world aboard a container ship, revealing what happens before the big bang of merchandise explodes from the high seas into civilization -- Curtis C. Ebbesmeyer, author * Flotsametrics and the Floating World *
[An] engaging voyage through the shady world of international shipping * Bookseller *
Riveting * Nature *
Few readers will be left in any doubt as to the importance of this opaque industry on which we all depend -- Sarah Mishkin * Financial Times *
It is a travelogue of sorts, written in clear, straightforward English, about the people, pirates and machinery that make up the modern maritime industry * New Statesman *
A very good book -- Michael Burleigh * Literary Review *
A very important book. [George] has vision and curiosity [and she] really does ask the right questions. You should read this book * Lloyd's List *
Absorbing [and] engrossing * New York Times *
Cleverly constructed, carefully researched, moving, vivid... Thoughtful and provocative, written with style and passion * Nautilus International *
Fascinating * Hythe Herald *
A fascinating exploration of the world of container shipping * Yorkshire Post *
A remarkable work of embedded reportage - hair-raising, witty, compassionate - that deserves to be read * South China Morning Post *
She uncovers many serious (and murky) issues -- Pascal Lamy, Former Director General of WTO, Best Books of the Year
Excellent... panoramic -- Boyd Tonkin * Independent *
Interesting, relevant, and [full of] surprising facts * Hill Dickinson Newsletter *
Eye-opening * Mail on Sunday *
Very readable and compelling * The Maritime Executive *
Fascinating [and] troublingly insightful. This is a remarkable work of embedded reportage - hair-raising, witty, compassionate - that deserves to be read by anyone interested in the cartographies of the contemporary world -- Sukhdev Sandu * Guardian *
Absorbing -- Ed Power * Irish Independent **** *
In a work of great insight and sympathy, George conveys the monotony and loneliness of the modern commercial sailor's life while also describing the omnipresent dangers -- Tom Moriarty * Irish Times *
A very well researched and written appreciation of the modern maritime industry and most of its people * Baird Publications *
Awards
Winner of Travelling Scholarships Award 2011 (UK). Long-listed for Mountbatten Maritime Award 2013 (UK).
Book Information
ISBN 9781846272998
Author Rose George
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Granta Books
Publisher Granta Books
Weight(grams) 226g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 19mm