Short description
Is there a difference between 'good' asylum seekers and 'bad' economic migrants? What happens to those whose applications are turned down? This work celebrates the courage and will to survive shown by ordinary human beings.
Long description
Human Cargo is a remarkable oral testament. Caroline Moorehead has visited war zones, camps and prisons from Guinea and Afghanistan to Texas and Italy. She has interviewed emigration officials and members of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Geneva while investigating the fates of the 17 million people currently displaced from their homes. How can society cope with this diaspora of the twenty-first century? Is there a difference between 'good' asylum seekers and 'bad' economic migrants? What happens to those whose applications are turned down? The difficult questions are asked, the horrible issues faced. But, above all, Human Cargo celebrates the courage and will to survive shown by ordinary human beings.
Review
'Strong in its condemnations and unflinching in its gaze, Human Cargo is also, mercifully, rich in humanity and examples of the indomitable nature of the human spirit.' Independent on Sunday. 'Read this compelling and important book' Scotsman 'Wide-ranging, generous and humane' Irish Times 'Clear sighted...urgent' Guardian 'Remarkable, balanced, intelligent' Daily Telegraph 'Compelling...a deft mixture of history, travelogue and reportage. A powerful, heartfelt and important book' Literary Review 'Her ability to tell stories gives this book its power' Economist 'Caroline Moorehead knows how to grip the reader's attention and haunt their dreams'Sunday Telegraph
additional information
Caroline Moorehead is the biographer of Bertrand Russell, Freya Stark, Iris Origo and Martha Gellhorn. Well known for her work in human rights, she is also the author of Dancing to the Precipice, a biography of Lucie de la Tour du Pin, shorlisted for the Costa Biography Award in 2009; and, most recently, A Train in Winter, a book about a group of French women who survived the death camps in Auschwitz, which was longlisted for the Orwell Prize. Caroline lives in London.
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