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Crossing the Sea: With Syrians on the Exodus to Europe

Wolfgang Bauer author Sarah Pybus translator

Format:Hardback

Publisher:And Other Stories

Published:24th Mar '16

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Crossing the Sea: With Syrians on the Exodus to Europe cover

The first book of reportage covering the flight of refugees from Syria to Europe via the Mediterranean. With colour photos.

Placing himself at the mercy of Egyptian smuggler gangs in Alexandria and at sea, journalist Wolfgang Bauer went undercover to document first-hand the flight of Syrian refugees crossing the Mediterranean. Their book, the first of its kind, is an incisive portrait both of the lives behind the crisis and the systemic problems that constitute it.

Award-winning journalist Wolfgang Bauer and photographer Stanislav Krupař were the first undercover reporters to document the journey of Syrian refugees from Egypt to Europe. Posing as English teachers in 2014, they were direct witnesses to the brutality of smuggler gangs, the processes of detainment and deportation, the dangers of sea-crossing on rickety boats, and the final furtive journey through Europe. Combining their own travels with other eyewitness accounts in the first book of reportage of its kind, Crossing the Sea brings to life both the systemic problems and the individual faces behind the crisis, and is a passionate appeal for more humanitarian refugee policies.

'The last words of this book are "Have mercy." There is no more to say. Wolfgang Bauer’s impressive and brutally honest depiction of the fates of refugees speaks for itself.'

-- Berthold Merkle * Der Tagesspiegel *

'The book affects you on two levels. There is the gripping reportage that brings us very close to the people, and there is also the epilogue’s entreating words. Bauer’s accusation is powerful.'

* Südwest Presse Ulm *

'Wolfgang Bauer is a sophisticated and conscientious reporter, an expert on the Arab Spring and its aftermath, and a brilliant writer.'

-- author of Mislaid and The Nell Zink Wallcreeper

‘It’s not just the detail in this book that counts. It’s the anger.’

-- Robert Fisk * The Independent *

‘An excellent book.’

-- Melissa Fleming (Spokesperson and Head of Communications UNHCR)

‘In 2014, journalist Wolfgang Bauer went undercover to document the flight of Syrian refugees firsthand . . . An incisive portrait both of the lives behind the crisis, and the systemic problems that constitute it.’

* Publishers Weekly *

Crossing The Sea offers an inside perspective on their plight, and tells a story rarely told . . . The refugees’ stories and remarkable photos provide a counter-narrative to the popular media rhetoric.’

-- Antonia Charlesworth * Big Issue Nor

ISBN: 9781908276827

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 298g

144 pages