This astonishing, brilliantly written book brings us to places we could otherwise never go as it unfolds a riveting contemporary drama: a group of remarkable people striving to better their lives, in an age of bewildering global change.This astonishing, brilliantly written book brings us to places we could otherwise never go as it unfolds a riveting contemporary drama: a group of remarkable people striving to better their lives, in an age of bewildering global change. Winner of US National Book Award for Nonfiction 2012 and LA Times Book Prize 2012 and UK Indie Debut 2012. Short-listed for Pulitzer Prize 2013 and Samuel Johnson Award 2012.