
The Desert and the Sea
977 Days Captive on the Somali Pirate Coast
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $24.29
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Corey Snow
About this listen
Michael Scott Moore, a journalist and the author of Sweetness and Blood, incorporates personal narrative and rigorous investigative journalism in this profound and revelatory memoir of his three-year captivity by Somali pirates - a riveting, thoughtful, and emotionally resonant exploration of foreign policy, religious extremism, and the costs of survival.
In January 2012, having covered a Somali pirate trial in Hamburg for Spiegel Online International - and funded by a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting - Michael Scott Moore traveled to the Horn of Africa to write about piracy and ways to end it. In a terrible twist of fate, Moore himself was kidnapped and subsequently held captive by Somali pirates. Subjected to conditions that break even the strongest spirits - physical injury, starvation, isolation, terror - Moore’s survival is a testament to his indomitable strength of mind. In September 2014, after 977 days, he walked free when his ransom was put together by the help of several US and German institutions, friends, colleagues, and his strong-willed mother.
Yet Moore’s own struggle is only part of the story: The Desert and the Sea falls at the intersection of reportage, memoir, and history. Caught between Muslim pirates, the looming threat of Al-Shabaab, and the rise of ISIS, Moore observes the worlds that surrounded him - the economics and history of piracy; the effects of post-colonialism; the politics of hostage negotiation and ransom; while also conjuring the various faces of Islam - and places his ordeal in the context of the larger political and historical issues.
A sort of Catch-22 meets Black Hawk Down, The Desert and the Sea is written with dark humor, candor, and a journalist’s clinical distance and eye for detail. Moore offers an intimate and otherwise inaccessible view of life as we cannot fathom it, brilliantly weaving his own experience as a hostage with the social, economic, religious, and political factors creating it. The Desert and the Sea is wildly compelling and a book that will take its place next to titles like Den of Lions and Even Silence Has an End.
©2018 Michael Scott Moore (P)2018 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
-
Cobalt Red
- How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives
- By: Siddharth Kara
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cobalt Red is the searing first-ever exposé of the immense toll taken on the people and environment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by cobalt mining, as told through the testimonies of the Congolese people themselves. Activist and researcher Siddharth Kara has traveled deep into cobalt territory to document the testimonies of the people living, working, and dying for cobalt.
-
-
A must read
- By Anonymous User on 02-01-23
By: Siddharth Kara
-
In Order to Live
- A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
- By: Yeonmi Park
- Narrated by: Eji Kim
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In In Order to Live, Yeonmi Park shines a light not just into the darkest corners of life in North Korea, describing the deprivation and deception she endured and which millions of North Korean people continue to endure to this day, but also onto her own most painful and difficult memories. She tells with bravery and dignity for the first time the story of how she and her mother were betrayed and sold into sexual slavery in China and forced to suffer terrible psychological and physical hardship before they finally made their way to Seoul, South Korea - and to freedom.
-
-
Wow. What a story!
- By Jfm on 02-01-16
By: Yeonmi Park
-
The Wager
- A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
- By: David Grann
- Narrated by: Dion Graham, David Grann
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia.
-
-
Gasping for Air
- By Jean Engle on 04-19-23
By: David Grann
-
Skeletons on the Zahara
- A True Story of Survival
- By: Dean King
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everywhere hailed as a masterpiece of historical adventure, this enthralling narrative recounts the experiences of 12 American sailors who were shipwrecked off the coast of Africa in 1815, captured by desert nomads, sold into slavery, and subjected to a hellish two-month journey through the bone-dry heart of the Sahara. The ordeal of these men - who found themselves tested by barbarism, murder, starvation, death, dehydration, and hostile tribes that roamed the desert on camelback - is made indelibly vivid in this gripping account of courage, brotherhood, and survival.
-
-
Haunting
- By thawstone on 06-05-16
By: Dean King
-
Dead in the Water
- A True Story of Hijacking, Murder, and a Global Maritime Conspiracy
- By: Matthew Campbell, Kit Chellel
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In July 2011, the oil tanker Brillante Virtuoso was drifting through the treacherous Gulf of Aden when a crew of pirates attacked and set her ablaze in a devastating explosion. But when David Mockett, a maritime surveyor working for Lloyd’s of London, inspected the damaged vessel, he was left with more questions than answers. How had the pirates gotten aboard so easily? And if they wanted to steal the ship and bargain for its return, then why did they destroy it? The questions didn’t add up—and Mockett would never answer them.
-
-
More Engrossing Than Fiction
- By Kindle Customer on 06-14-22
By: Matthew Campbell, and others
-
A House in the Sky
- A Memoir
- By: Amanda Lindhout, Sara Corbett
- Narrated by: Amanda Lindhout
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amanda Lindhout reads her spectacularly dramatic memoir of a woman whose curiosity about the world led her from rural Canada to imperiled and dangerous countries on every continent, and then into 15 months of harrowing captivity in Somalia - a story of courage, resilience, and extraordinary grace. In August 2008, she traveled to Mogadishu, Somalia - "the most dangerous place on Earth." On her fourth day in the country, she and her photojournalist companion were abducted.
-
-
Drawing Strength from an Empty Well
- By Mel on 09-12-13
By: Amanda Lindhout, and others
-
Cobalt Red
- How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives
- By: Siddharth Kara
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cobalt Red is the searing first-ever exposé of the immense toll taken on the people and environment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by cobalt mining, as told through the testimonies of the Congolese people themselves. Activist and researcher Siddharth Kara has traveled deep into cobalt territory to document the testimonies of the people living, working, and dying for cobalt.
-
-
A must read
- By Anonymous User on 02-01-23
By: Siddharth Kara
-
In Order to Live
- A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
- By: Yeonmi Park
- Narrated by: Eji Kim
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In In Order to Live, Yeonmi Park shines a light not just into the darkest corners of life in North Korea, describing the deprivation and deception she endured and which millions of North Korean people continue to endure to this day, but also onto her own most painful and difficult memories. She tells with bravery and dignity for the first time the story of how she and her mother were betrayed and sold into sexual slavery in China and forced to suffer terrible psychological and physical hardship before they finally made their way to Seoul, South Korea - and to freedom.
-
-
Wow. What a story!
- By Jfm on 02-01-16
By: Yeonmi Park
-
The Wager
- A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
- By: David Grann
- Narrated by: Dion Graham, David Grann
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia.
-
-
Gasping for Air
- By Jean Engle on 04-19-23
By: David Grann
-
Skeletons on the Zahara
- A True Story of Survival
- By: Dean King
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everywhere hailed as a masterpiece of historical adventure, this enthralling narrative recounts the experiences of 12 American sailors who were shipwrecked off the coast of Africa in 1815, captured by desert nomads, sold into slavery, and subjected to a hellish two-month journey through the bone-dry heart of the Sahara. The ordeal of these men - who found themselves tested by barbarism, murder, starvation, death, dehydration, and hostile tribes that roamed the desert on camelback - is made indelibly vivid in this gripping account of courage, brotherhood, and survival.
-
-
Haunting
- By thawstone on 06-05-16
By: Dean King
-
Dead in the Water
- A True Story of Hijacking, Murder, and a Global Maritime Conspiracy
- By: Matthew Campbell, Kit Chellel
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In July 2011, the oil tanker Brillante Virtuoso was drifting through the treacherous Gulf of Aden when a crew of pirates attacked and set her ablaze in a devastating explosion. But when David Mockett, a maritime surveyor working for Lloyd’s of London, inspected the damaged vessel, he was left with more questions than answers. How had the pirates gotten aboard so easily? And if they wanted to steal the ship and bargain for its return, then why did they destroy it? The questions didn’t add up—and Mockett would never answer them.
-
-
More Engrossing Than Fiction
- By Kindle Customer on 06-14-22
By: Matthew Campbell, and others
-
A House in the Sky
- A Memoir
- By: Amanda Lindhout, Sara Corbett
- Narrated by: Amanda Lindhout
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amanda Lindhout reads her spectacularly dramatic memoir of a woman whose curiosity about the world led her from rural Canada to imperiled and dangerous countries on every continent, and then into 15 months of harrowing captivity in Somalia - a story of courage, resilience, and extraordinary grace. In August 2008, she traveled to Mogadishu, Somalia - "the most dangerous place on Earth." On her fourth day in the country, she and her photojournalist companion were abducted.
-
-
Drawing Strength from an Empty Well
- By Mel on 09-12-13
By: Amanda Lindhout, and others
-
Empire of the Summer Moon
- Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History
- By: S. C. Gwynne
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Empire of the Summer Moon spans two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second entails one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son, Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches.
-
-
Difficult to endure narrator
- By fowler on 12-21-19
By: S. C. Gwynne
-
Chaos
- Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties
- By: Tom O'Neill, Dan Piepenbring
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over two grim nights in Los Angeles, the young followers of Charles Manson murdered seven people, including the actress Sharon Tate, then eight months pregnant. With no mercy and seemingly no motive, the Manson Family followed their leader's every order. Twenty years ago, when journalist Tom O'Neill was reporting a magazine piece about the murders, he worried there was nothing new to say. Then he unearthed shocking evidence of a cover-up behind the "official" story, including police carelessness, legal misconduct, and potential surveillance by intelligence agents.
-
-
Don't fall for the negative reviews...
- By Visualverbs on 08-04-19
By: Tom O'Neill, and others
-
Tremendous
- The Life of a Comedy Savage
- By: Joey "Coco" Diaz
- Narrated by: Joey "Coco" Diaz
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Outsider. Misfit. Criminal. Convict. . . . Movie star. Family man. Comedy legend. Joey Diaz has been called every name in the book (and then some). Now, for the first time, he shares the story of his unlikely rise to fame in his own words—with no punches pulled.
-
-
Thank you
- By amanda on 05-04-23
By: Joey "Coco" Diaz
-
438 Days
- An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea
- By: Jonathan Franklin
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
438 Days is the miraculous account of the man who survived alone and adrift at sea longer than anyone in recorded history - as told to journalist Jonathan Franklin in dozens of exclusive interviews.
-
-
Excellent use of my credit!
- By SGL on 12-13-15
-
Dancing in the Glory of Monsters
- The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa
- By: Jason Stearns
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the heart of Africa is Congo, a country the size of Western Europe, bordering nine other nations, that since 1996 has been wracked by a brutal and unstaunchable war in which millions have died. And yet, despite its epic proportions, it has received little sustained media attention. In this deeply reported book, Jason K. Stearns vividly tells the story of this misunderstood conflict through the experiences of those who engineered and perpetrated it.
-
-
First book I've found that explains DRC
- By Amazon Customer on 09-09-17
By: Jason Stearns
-
American Dirt
- A Novel
- By: Jeanine Cummins
- Narrated by: Yareli Arizmendi
- Length: 16 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lydia Quixano Pérez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable. When Lydia’s husband’s tell-all profile of Javier, the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city, is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.
-
-
Completely unrealistic
- By Marlene L Marquez on 02-12-20
By: Jeanine Cummins
-
Masters of Death
- The SS-Einsatzgruppen and the Invention of the Holocaust
- By: Richard Rhodes
- Narrated by: Neil Hellegers
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Masters of Death, Richard Rhodes gives full weight, for the first time, to the Einsatzgruppen's role in the Holocaust. These "special task forces", organized by Heinrich Himmler to follow the German army as it advanced into Eastern Poland and Russia, were the agents of the first phase of the Final Solution. They murdered more than one and a half million men, women, and children between 1941 and 1943, often by shooting them into killing pits, as at Babi Yar.
-
-
Good book...but...
- By Disintegrator on 08-26-19
By: Richard Rhodes
-
Smuggler
- By: Roger Reaves
- Narrated by: Roger Reaves
- Length: 24 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Roger Reaves grew up a poor farm boy in Georgia and went from making 'moonshine' to becoming one of the most prolific smugglers of the 20th century. He covered six continents, transporting 20 ton ship loads of hash, tons of cocaine, and completed more than 100 sorties across the US border with plane loads of marijuana. His friends and associates spanned the globe - from Medellin Cartel kingpins Jorge Ochoa and Pablo Escobar, to "Mr. Nice" Howard Marks and the infamous Barry Seal who was Roger's close friend and employee.
-
-
5 stars
- By Kacy Smith on 01-09-22
By: Roger Reaves
-
Parable of the Sower
- By: Octavia E. Butler
- Narrated by: Lynne Thigpen
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
God is change. That is the central truth of the Earthseed movement, whose unlikely prophet is 18-year-old Lauren Olamina. The young woman's diary entries tell the story of her life amid a violent 21st-century hell of walled neighborhoods and drug-crazed pyromaniacs - and reveal her evolving Earthseed philosophy. Against a backdrop of horror emerges a message of hope: if we are willing to embrace divine change, we will survive to fulfill our destiny among the stars.
-
-
Dystopia before dystopia was cool...
- By Amber on 05-28-14
-
Mother of God
- An Extraordinary Journey into the Uncharted Tributaries of the Western Amazon
- By: Paul Rosolie
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For fans of The Lost City of Z, Walking the Amazon, and Turn Right at Machu Picchu comes naturalist and explorer Paul Rosolie’s extraordinary adventure in the uncharted tributaries of the Western Amazon - a tale of discovery that vividly captures the awe, beauty, and isolation of this endangered land and presents an impassioned call to save it.
-
-
This whole book is B.S.
- By bob fields on 09-30-18
By: Paul Rosolie
-
The Outlaw Ocean
- Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier
- By: Ian Urbina
- Narrated by: Jason Culp, Ian Urbina
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There are few remaining frontiers on our planet. But perhaps the wildest, and least understood, are the world's oceans: too big to police, and under no clear international authority, these immense regions of treacherous water play host to rampant criminality and exploitation.
-
-
Subject interesting, but some facts not true
- By Worldoceans on 12-09-19
By: Ian Urbina
-
Madhouse at the End of the Earth
- The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night
- By: Julian Sancton
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In August 1897, the young Belgian commandant Adrien de Gerlache set sail for a three-year expedition aboard the good ship Belgica with dreams of glory. His destination was the uncharted end of the earth: the icy continent of Antarctica. But de Gerlache’s plans to be first to the magnetic South Pole would swiftly go awry. After a series of costly setbacks, the commandant faced two bad options: turn back in defeat and spare his men the devastating Antarctic winter, or recklessly chase fame by sailing deeper into the freezing waters.
-
-
Excellent story
- By Ginger 3701 on 05-23-21
By: Julian Sancton
What listeners say about The Desert and the Sea
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rick Alexander
- 08-12-18
Relevant & Philosophical
This articulate and reflective memoir is colorful in its language but relevant to our time and worth yours.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Buck & Ashley Pardee
- 08-04-18
parallel worlds
I really enjoyed how this author was able to meld his story and experience as a hostage with his story and experiences in his childhood. I also really enjoyed how he took us on his emotional and psychological Journey not just his physical Journey. This book is definitely worthwhile reading. You will get intmate details on an experience most of us will hopefully never have. The most surprising part of the story for me was how uplifting it was at times. I really expected for this to be a pretty solemn raed but it had me thinking about all kinds of things from self-indulgence to understanding other cultures.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 07-04-19
Gripping
Thank you Michael Scott Moore for telling your amazing and harrowing story. An interesting journey into geopolitics, history, and the soul. So glad I saw your interview on The Daily Show.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Carolyn
- 11-18-18
Excellent
I found this whole book so beautifully written and narrated. It is hard to imagine that Michael Moore could be normal enough to even write a book after his ordeal. It was so worth my time and kudos to Mr Moore and Mr. Snow for making this story come alive.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- frank alfar
- 09-17-19
all the stars deserved!!!!
This is a exceptional piece of true life literature. It really depicts and informsthe listener of his plight, journey and human interaction w the pirates and the other abducted . Excellent!!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chuck Sadler
- 08-09-18
So interesting
I heard the FreshAir interview with Micheal Scott Moore and I immediately got interested. I didn’t know what to expect from this novel. It is just a Fascinating listen. So much mundane crap love through is so interesting and unusual in our normal western lives. I really enjoyed this novel and I highly recommend it to anyone.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jonathan Kelman
- 12-06-18
great book, great performance
An excellent book, with a number of surprising insights into both Somalia and human existence. Also read very well.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- hotdog71
- 12-05-18
incapsulating listening
I really couldn't stop listening to this incredible story of ones human psychological response to being held captive against ones will.
I found myself wanting to hear more, but also wanted him to bust out and take a few of his captors down to end the suffering. A truly unbelievable story of will and faith to live with a lot of rag and. a hint of self pitty with the odd chuckle along his unplanned journey.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Elaine
- 08-24-18
Hard to fathom that it’s true!
Riveting story told in great detail. A little long, but so easy to picture. Appreciate the historical perspective of how the pirates came into being. Fascinating.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jonathan
- 08-04-18
Wow!
I kept forgetting this is non fiction! Absolutely amazing to the end. Probably my favorite book this year. Great job Michael, and thanks to Joe Rogan for introducing me to this.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
11 people found this helpful