An award-winning investigation into the strange and secretive world of international shipping.

'Arresting, sharply observed, deeply researched and compelling... Plenty of books promise to reveal the secrets of little-known worlds but few actually deliver. This is one that does' Melanie McGrath, Sunday Telegraph

There are 100,000 freighters on the seas. Between them they carry nearly everything we eat, wear and work with. In this unique and fascinating investigation, Rose George joins the crew of a container ship travelling the long journey from Felixstowe to Singapore and charts the murky waters of international shipping. This is an eye-opening tale of powerful naval fleets, pirate gangs, and illegal floating factories, which reveals the vast hidden industry upon which our world turns and our future depends.

'This is a remarkable work of embedded reportage - hair-raising, witty, compassionate - that deserves to be read' Sukhdev Sandhu, Guardian

A BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week and winner of a Society of Authors Travelling Scholarship and a Mountbatten Maritime Award