Deep Sea and Foreign Going

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 * Lloyds 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 i

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/