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‘Just incredible’ Naomi Klein
‘Gripping and shocking…with the pace of a thriller’ The Times

A New York Times bestseller, The Outlaw Ocean is a riveting, adrenalin-fuelled tour of a vast, lawless and rampantly criminal world that few have ever seen: the high seas.

The oceans are some of the last untamed frontiers on our planet.

Too big to police, and under no clear international authority, these treacherous waters play host to the extremes of human behaviour and activity.

From traffickers, smugglers and pirates to vigilante conservationists, stowaways and seabound abortion-providers, Ian Urbina introduces us to the inhabitants of this hidden world and their risk-fraught lives. Through their extraordinary stories, he uncovers a globe-spanning network of crime and exploitation that emanates from the fishing, oil and shipping industries – but to which all of us are connected.

LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE 2019

‘An astonishing book about a world most of us don’t even know exists’ Oliver Bullough, author of Moneyland

‘An outstanding investigation of a global criminal culture on the high seas’ Guardian

‘Truly important… A complex portrait of an unseen and disturbing world’ New York Times

Publisher Review

An outstanding investigation of a global criminal culture on the high seas … His rendezvous with contacts on at least one occasion was arranged for 100 miles offshore through mountainous waves … Little wonder the stories he tells have not been told before * Guardian * A riveting, terrifying, thrilling story of a netherworld that few people know about, and fewer will ever see. As Ian Urbina ventures into the darkest folds of the high seas, his courage-and his prose-are breathtaking’ SUSAN CASEY, author of The Wave — Susan Casey, author of The Wave Urbina has written an astonishing book about a world most of us don’t even know exists. These are dispatches from the lawless ocean – of traffickers, slaves, heroes, gangsters, crooks and scoundrels – which will amaze, enthral and appal you — Oliver Bullough, author of Moneyland Just incredible — Naomi Klein Gripping and shocking by turns … Most of the book clips along with the pace of a thriller … stomach-churningly tense … as outlandish and as thrilling as a heist film * The Times *