The People on the Beach

'A fascinating, poignant, exciting and revelatory story, told dramatically yet subtly and meticulously, and filled with colourful and unlikely characters. Part travel writing, part investigative journalism, here is a swathe of world history told through the lives, tragedies, suffering and survival of a boatload of Jewish survivors.' -- Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of 'Jerusalem' 'This is a story that needed telling and Rosie Waterhouse tells it with warmth, energy and empathy--the story of those who survived the greatest darkness, and dreamed of a new life in the light.' -- Jonathan Freedland, Guardian columnist 'I could not put this book down. Moving, haunting and utterly fascinating, it tells a story of unlikely heroes who should be far better known: survivors, and those who helped them on their illegal journey to Palestine/Israel. Terrific.' -- Rabbi Dame Julia Neuberger DBE 'Despite knowledge of the Nazi genocide, Holocaust survivors faced a hostile world of immigration barriers. Uncovering the stories of those who found sanctuary illegally , Whitehouse has written a thrilling detective story with ringing resonance for our times.' -- Joanna Newman MBE, Association of Commonwealth Universities, historian of refugees from Nazism