Afloat

'A beautifully written and beautifully made book. David Gange's rowed and paddled journeys in small boats are full of drama, insight and revelation' Alistair Moffat 'David Gange brings us on a marvellous voyage, not of conquest, but of restoration. He kayaks between ice floes, rows us up fjords, traces coastlines in an arc from Galway north to Greenland and then south to the Barbados, introducing us to the small boats of the northern Atlantic and the communities which depend upon them. In prose that is precise and beautiful as northern light, he shares with us the aesthetic thrill of experiencing an indigenous boat in the environment which has shaped it over time. This book is an absolute delight' Moya Cannon PRAISE FOR THE FRAYED ATLANTIC EDGE: COLLECTIVE WINNER OF THE HIGHLAND BOOK PRIZE 2019 SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2020 ‘This book is the product of a considerable physical achievement … A brilliant book, and a major step towards a genuinely radical reimagining of the history of the British Isles.’ Scotsman ‘The strength of Mr Gange’s account is his generosity. His own wry persona never overshadows the voices of past and present inhabitants … [his] prose is itself poetic and precise … His enthusiasm for snoozing in soggy sleeping bags is infectious … A dunking in the freezing sea, off the coast of County Mayo, leaves the author shivering but “ignited, elated”. Surfacing from the book, the reader is invigorated, too.’ Economist ‘[Gange is] physically resourceful, articulate, clear-eyed, informed, attentive to the realities, and crucially at home in all the elements. A book reliant in the end on one key fact: edges are revelatory.’ Adam Nicolson, winner of the Wainwright Prize 2018 ‘This beautifully written and grippingly researched book shows us that our shores are the beginning, not the ending, of things.’ Philip Hoare ‘Energetic, entertaining and erudite … Sometimes boisterous, sometimes lyrical but always engaging.’ Donald Murray