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My Fourth Time, We Drowned
- Seeking Refuge on the World’s Deadliest Migration Route
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
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My Fourth Time, We Drowned
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Summary
WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZEWINNER OF IRISH BOOK OF THE YEARSHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE
‘The most important work of contemporary reporting I have ever read’ SALLY ROONEY
The treatment of refugees has become one of the most devastating human rights disasters in our history. In this book, award-winning journalist Sally Hayden unfolds a staggering investigation into the migrant crisis across North Africa.
This book follows the experiences of refugees, telling a range of shocking and eye-opening human stories. But it also surveys the bigger picture: the negligence of NGOs and corruption within the United Nations. The economics of the twenty-first-century slave trade and the EU’s bankrolling of Libyan militias. The trials of people smugglers, the frustrations of aid workers, the loopholes refugees seek out and the role of social media in crowdfunding ransoms. Who was accountable for the abuse? Where were the people finding solutions? Why wasn’t it being widely reported?
At its heart, this is a book about people who have made unimaginable choices, risking everything to survive in a system that wants them to be silent and disappear.
Critic reviews
‘Journalism of the most urgent kind’
Financial Times
‘The triumph of the book is to inject a renewed urgency and moral clarity into a story most people think they are familiar with’
The Times
‘[A] devastating, moving and damning account of one of the tragedies of our age … Hayden never flinches in documenting human nature at its worst – its best is shown here, too’
Irish Independent
‘The most important work of contemporary reporting I have ever read … I hope that Sally Hayden's work can help to begin a radically new and overdue discussion about Europe's approach to migration and borders’
Sally Rooney
‘Brilliant, hugely important reportage on the ongoing situation many of us try to tune out’
Marian Keyes
‘What a devastating book about the catastrophic inhumanity of European migration policy. It’s a journalistic masterpiece. Shattering stories. It absolutely demands to be read … Essential’
Max Porter, author of Grief is the Thing with Feathers
‘Extremely good’
Mark O’Connell, author of Notes from an Apocalypse
‘Compassionate, brave, enraging, beautifully written and incredibly well researched. Hayden exposes the truth’
Oliver Bullough, author of Moneyland
‘One of the most important testaments of this awful time in life's history. It is both heartbreaking and stoic’
Edna O'Brien, author of The Little Red Chairs
‘This vivid chronicle … may make you cry, but it should make you angry … A blistering rebuke’
Lindsey Hilsum, International Editor of Channel 4 News
‘A veritable masterclass in journalism … The most riveting, detailed and damning account ever written on the deadliest of migration routes’
Christina Lamb, Chief Foreign Correspondent of the Sunday Times
‘Heart-stopping … A vital book for anyone who wants to feel what it means to be human in the 21st century’
Fintan O’Toole, author of We Don’t Know Ourselves
What listeners say about My Fourth Time, We Drowned
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- jackjustreading
- 08-03-23
Feeling despair
I’m finishing this book just as Rishi Sunak &!Suella Braverman are trying to pass a bill to make it illegal to cross the channel in a small boat to seek asylum.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- S. M. Murray
- 17-06-23
Grim but necessary
I thought listening to this might be easier than reading but I found myself nonetheless filled with rage and despair about humanity. It is detailed and thorough and the inclusion of the
Voice of the refugee means one cannot detach from the facts.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- LizzyB
- 29-05-22
Strong and Humanitarian
This book is so compelling and clear. No one could listen to it without feeling the need to push the EU and the UN for change.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 09-01-23
Heartbreaking
This is certainly an eye opener. Well worth listening too. It certainly makes you question how we think about and treat other humans.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Ciaran O Donnell
- 29-05-24
ear opening
Great work and eye-opening account of man's inhumanity to man in our 'civilised' world. kudos to Sally for her work.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Michael
- 31-01-23
incredible
astonishing read about something vital. detailed, in -depth, human, and thorough. really opened my eyes. the performance is also clear and engaging. loved it
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 16-08-23
Extraordinary Book, Important story
Sally Hayden's extraordinary book illustrates the systems creating and controlling the experiences people have travelling to Europe to seek asylum. It will open your mind to the reality of human rights in Europe. Definitely read this book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 14-02-23
A complete shift in perspective & a must read!
I never write reviews but this deserves all the attention it can get. A valuable yet harrowing window into the human experience of migration. This is expertly written and structured to capture your attention and at times evoke very deep emotions. Sally is highlighting one of the most morally important yet under discussed issues of our time - a real humanitarian crisis for Europe.
The performance is flawless and the original audio excepts from distressed migrants escalates the emotion and humanises the real world characters, brothers and sisters fleeing persecution and seeking a better life.
If you are in doubt, just listen to Chapter One and you won’t want to put it down.
It is worth noting that this is a very difficult subject, especially the first hand accounts of brutality, and at times challenges our own humanity - some listeners will likely struggle emotionally to process it all but I believe we have to try.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- FT
- 22-04-23
A shocking but necessary listen
The narration is exceptional and helps bring this account to life. Interspersed with some real voices of people affected by this can’t, this book summarises the path to expose a determined deliberate human rights abuse. It’s not an easy listen, but by doing so at the very least, awareness is raised of something that was hidden for far too long. All your western troubles are thrown into perspective and your grasp on what you thought you knew is shaken. Please read it if you feel strong enough (it should come with many trigger warnings, so don’t if you’re not in a good place. ) if you are, try to bear witness and don’t look away. It’s a start to a conversation with our politicians and media about immigration and is sorely needed.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 10-09-23
Gripping story on the inhumane treatment of immigrants
This book explains through the eyes of immigrants caught in Lybia how the EU is paying regimes to keep immigrants out at any cost. That cost is modern slavery, rape and imprisonment in Lybia of many thousands of people. The audiobook includes some voice messages the author received showing the complete desperation of the immigrants
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