The Road Before Me Weeps
On the Refugee Route Through Europe
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Yale University Press
Published:26th Mar '19
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
A powerful and revealing firsthand account of the migrant and refugee experience on the overland route across Europe
War and chaos in Syria and Iraq, violence in Afghanistan, and hopelessness in countries bordering war zones have spurred several million refugees and migrants to set out for Europe. The West Balkans, from Turkey through Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Hungary, became the main entry route.
Based in Budapest for more than three decades, Nick Thorpe was perfectly placed to cover the birth of the route, its heyday, and the attempts of numerous states to close it. This is his intimate account of the daily lives of those stuck in razor-wire enclosures or on the move along forest tracks, railway lines, motorways—and of the smugglers, border police, and political leaders who help, exploit, or obstruct them. He challenges those who demonize or glorify migration, visits the arrivals in their new environment, and studies their impact on the countries which welcomed them with open arms or hesitation.
“Makes a precious contribution to migration literature, as well as the literature of political science, international relations, and sociology. It deserves the attention of academicians, policymakers, and anyone interested in the sociology and politics of refuge issues.”—Zehra Çelik, Insight Turkey
“Although the book is meticulously researched, with extensive political analysis, it is Thorpe's personal observations that resonate”— Lucy Popescu, Times Literary Supplement
“As a BBC reporter, Nick Thorpe was an eye-witness to a moment that will define 21st century Europe for a generation: the surge of refugees and migrants through the Balkan route in 2015 and 2016. In this panoramic report, a reader will relive the story as it happened, in the voices of the refugees themselves, the police, the aid workers, the smugglers and the politicians. It is a triumph.”—Michael Ignatieff, President, Central European University
“A sweeping and devastating account of the human toll of border walls and anti-immigrant politics in Europe. An essential read.”—Reece Jones, author of Violent Borders
ISBN: 9780300241228
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
344 pages