Book Review: Human Cargo

First published 10 years ago, a second edition of Caroline Moorehead's Human Cargo: A Journey among Refugees, is to be released on 7 January 2016, with a new introduction by the author on the current global refugee crisis. Moorehead's work combines a highly readable account of her encounters with refugees and asylum seekers throughout the world, with an incisive analysis of the forces which have forced them to leave their own country and which continue to violate their human rights and prevent them from finding lasting solutions to their plight. Drawing evidence from locations that include Afghanistan, Australia, Egypt, Guinea, Lebanon and Sudan, Moorehead carefully pieces together the stories of the refugees she meets, recording both the horrors that have happened to them and the lengths they have gone to in order to survive. While the research might not be new, the book's narrative strength and unflinching honesty have gained a new relevance with the recent eruption of armed conflicts and mass displacements in countries such as Central African Republic, Nigeria, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen. An essential complement to the more academic and abstract literature emanating from the field of refugee studies.

The new edition of Human Cargo is to be published by Vintage Press and can be purchased in hard copy or Kindle from Amazon (if you have no objection to buying from a company with a terrible record of tax avoidance!).

Jeff Crisp
RSC Research Associate

[Ed. note: The new edition will also be available via the publisher.]