Lights In The Distance

A deeply moving and much needed reminder of the human tales which are so often obscured by political rhetoric on migration. -- Fatima Manji, Channel 4 News An engrossing account of refugees is a book to read for anyone who takes the biggest moral question of our age seriously. Trilling's journalistic skill once again shines in this reportage. -- Ece Temelkuran Daniel Trilling has emerged as one of our most intrepid and resourceful reporters. In Lights in the Distance, he illuminates the vast human tragedy behind newspaper headlines about refugees. -- Pankaj Mishra Humane and illuminating, Lights in the Distance is a vital examination of what the new era of border control and deportations really means, what it costs, and who pays the price. -- Olivia Laing By treating his subjects as fully conscious individuals rather than as a mass of victims without agency (often the flip side of the perception of the refugee as alien threat), Trilling brings human detail - individuality - into focus. * Times Literary Supplement * Subtle but effective . . . such a powerful book. In the midst of an escalating crisis, Trilling manages to keep his lens focused tightly on the people who are most intimately affected by the geopolitical catastrophe taking place around them. * Irish Times * Compelling . . . the author's mastery of the details of his subject shines through. * Financial Times * This powerful study looks behind the statistics and political slogans to reveal the human face of the refugee crisis. * Guardian * Brilliantly researched and written . . . Trilling [brings] his reader as close as possible to the actual circumstances of those who have found their way to Calais, or to Catania in Sicily or to London or to Athens, only to find themselves condemned to occupy space, rather than live. * Observer * [Lights in the Distance] calmly portrays the reality of life for people trying to enter a Europe that largely doesn't want them . . . If knowledge is the foundation of action, then [Trilling] has done us a great service by turning masses and numbers into people whom we like, who we can see are like us. * New Statesman *