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About City Of Thorns
Product Description Finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace PrizeNamed a Best of Book of the Year by The Economist and Foreign AffairsLos Angeles Times Book Prize FinalistThe Dadaab refugee camp is many things: to the charity workers, it’s a humanitarian crisis; to the Kenyan government, a “nursery for terrorists”; to the Western media, a dangerous no-go area. But to its half a million residents, it’s their last resort.Situated hundreds of miles from any other settlement, deep within the inhospitable desert of northern Kenya where only thorn bushes grow, Dadaab is a city like no other. Its buildings are made from mud, sticks, or plastic. Its entire economy is grey. And its citizens survive on rations and luck. Over the course of four years, Ben Rawlence became a firsthand witness to a strange and desperate place, getting to know many of those who had come seeking sanctuary. Among them are Guled, a former child soldier who lives for football; Nisho, who scrapes an existence by pushing a wheelbarrow and dreaming of riches; Tawane, the indomitable youth leader; and Kheyro, a student whose future hangs upon her education.In City of Thorns, Rawlence interweaves the stories of nine individuals to show what life is like in the camp, sketching the wider political forces that keep the refugees trapped. Lucid, vivid, and illuminating, City of Thorns is an urgent human story with deep international repercussions, brought to life through the people who call Dabaab home. Review "[A] remarkable book...Like Dadaab itself, the story has no conclusion. It is a portrait, beautifully and movingly painted. And it is more than that. At a time when newspapers are filled with daily images of refugees arriving in boats on Europe’s shores, when politicians and governments grapple with solutions to migration and erect ever larger walls and fences, it is an important reminder that a vast majority of the world’s refugees never get as far as a boat or a border of the developed world.”―Caroline Moorehead, The New York Times Book Review“The most absorbing book in recent memory about life in a refugee camp....Mr. Rawlence’s major feat is stripping away the anonymity....He transforms its denizens from faceless victims into three-dimensional human beings. Along the way, Dadaab emerges from the ever-present heat and dust to become much more than a refugee camp.”―Howard French, The Wall Street Journal“Read this one.”―Associated Press"[An] ambitious, morally urgent new book."―The New York Times “Magisterial...[The book] moves like a thriller.”―Los Angeles Times"In light of the contemporary crisis, City of Thorns serves as a cautionary tale. Rawlence's portrait of nine Dadaab residents offers a stark counterpoint to the rhetoric that too often speaks for refugees....This is a vital book at a critical moment in global history."―Minneapolis Star Tribune"Gripping.”―The Economist"City of Thorns is revelatory read. It is a lesson in politics, geography, economics, and humanity. Ben Rawlence's book will give readers the same insight into Dadaab that Katherine Boo gave readers into Mumbai with her book Beyond the Beautiful Forevers. This is an important book that will open your eyes and your heart.”―Everyday eBook"[Rawlence] has done a remarkable job, bringing home the reality behind those statistics by telling us what life is really like inside one of those camps....Rawlence's description of the camp economy is fascinating and shocking....A masterful account. Next time someone refers derisively to a 'bunch of migrants,' get them to read this book."―The Sunday Times (London) “That Rawlence has managed to capture so much of this unlikely city’s chaos and confusion in a narrative that is very nearly impossible to put down is an achievement in reportage that few have matched. Dadaab’s half a million residents could not have asked for a better champion than this researcher for Human Rights Watch, and while the facts and figures he shares are stunning, it is the nine ind
