The Desert and the Sea
977 Days Captive on the Somali Pirate Coast
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The Desert and the Sea
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Narrated by:
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Corey Snow
About this listen
Michael Scott Moore, a journalist and the author of Sweetness and Blood, incorporates personal narrative and rigorous investigative journalism in this profound and revelatory memoir of his three-year captivity by Somali pirates - a riveting, thoughtful, and emotionally resonant exploration of foreign policy, religious extremism, and the costs of survival.
In January 2012, having covered a Somali pirate trial in Hamburg for Spiegel Online International - and funded by a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting - Michael Scott Moore traveled to the Horn of Africa to write about piracy and ways to end it. In a terrible twist of fate, Moore himself was kidnapped and subsequently held captive by Somali pirates. Subjected to conditions that break even the strongest spirits - physical injury, starvation, isolation, terror - Moore’s survival is a testament to his indomitable strength of mind. In September 2014, after 977 days, he walked free when his ransom was put together by the help of several US and German institutions, friends, colleagues, and his strong-willed mother.
Yet Moore’s own struggle is only part of the story: The Desert and the Sea falls at the intersection of reportage, memoir, and history. Caught between Muslim pirates, the looming threat of Al-Shabaab, and the rise of ISIS, Moore observes the worlds that surrounded him - the economics and history of piracy; the effects of post-colonialism; the politics of hostage negotiation and ransom; while also conjuring the various faces of Islam - and places his ordeal in the context of the larger political and historical issues.
A sort of Catch-22 meets Black Hawk Down, The Desert and the Sea is written with dark humor, candor, and a journalist’s clinical distance and eye for detail. Moore offers an intimate and otherwise inaccessible view of life as we cannot fathom it, brilliantly weaving his own experience as a hostage with the social, economic, religious, and political factors creating it. The Desert and the Sea is wildly compelling and a book that will take its place next to titles like Den of Lions and Even Silence Has an End.
©2018 Michael Scott Moore (P)2018 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Desert and the Sea
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Egg321
- 11-01-19
Epic
This book provides an incredible ‘POV’ realism to the true terror of modern day kidnap and piratism.
Michael Scott-Moore brings to life his experiences vividly.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Adam kmet
- 29-11-18
loved it so good recommend 100% great story
loved it a story of a man that went through the he'll and survived great book
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Mr Woc
- 06-12-18
Good
Heard the guy who wrote the book on adam Buxtons podcast and was interested in the story, I enjoyed it :)
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- MR L EVANS
- 12-02-19
wow. what a great story.
An amazing story and sometimes hard to come to terms with just how different some parts of the world can be.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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- marcus royston jones
- 21-06-21
awesome story 👏 thank you for sharing
awesome story 👏 thank you for sharing it a really good listen 🎶 once again awesome story
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 01-09-24
No pirate's life for me
This was an exceptional 'real life' story, which reads like a novel. It could have benefited from being a bit shorter, but it's a great and facinating tale. The narrator was consistently great, too.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- bigsdavey
- 21-12-18
brilliant
amazing story and very inspiring, griping from start to finish, really recommend this. narrated perfectly
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Jocelyn Beales
- 08-12-20
Very interesting story
After listening to Michael on a podcast wanted to hear this full story. It’s a very interesting tale, very well written. I found the narration a little difficult at first, but got I used to it relatively quickly.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 17-05-19
Superb listen
Excellent story. Really enjoyed it. What an ordeal to go through. Well written and presented
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- Lisa Jones
- 30-10-23
Incredible memoir, beautifully written.
Having come across one of the key people in this saga I was interested to know more about what happened and what motivates the pirate gangs that we hear about from afar. The beautifully crafted wording was enlightening and it was thoroughly inspiring to learn about the courage and strength of this man and the people who negotiated his way to safety. I appreciated the deep dive into his father’s suicide, I felt like I was exploring it with him.
It’s a long read/listen but worth the investment. Well done, Michael.
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