"...puts us face to face with our mortal selves."
—Anna Badkhen
A Greek Tragedy
The gripping true story of a devastating shipwreck during the biggest refugee crisis since World War II.
On October 28, 2015, a boat meant for only a few dozen passengers, capsized off the coast of the Greek island of Lesvos. Hundreds of refugees, forced in desperation onto the overloaded boat manned by armed smugglers, were tossed into a roiling sea. The resulting loss of life, the largest in a single day during the crisis in the Aegean, shocked the world... READ MORE
​
Coming March 25, 2025 from Simon & Schuster / One Signal.
Early Praise
"A Greek Tragedy is a gripping, heart-wrenching tale with a huge cast, and it is essential reading for anyone hoping to understand the migrations and the injustices of our modern world.
—Héctor Tobar, author of the NYT bestseller, Deep Down Dark
​“Through a deep look into one tragic shipwreck, Carstensen vividly brings alive survivors, victims and helpers in a way that stands for the larger tragedy of which this event was a part.”
–Adam Hochschild, bestselling author of King Leopold’s Ghost
“At the time of the greatest human migration in recent history, A Greek Tragedy—tender, unsparing, meticulously researched—is an unparalleled chronicle.”
–Anna Badkhen, author of Bright Unbearable Reality
“The gripping account of a horrid maritime disaster, a beguiling saga, and an unputdownable book. This is meticulously researched, masterful reporting.
—Rabih Alameddine, award-winning author of An Unnecessary Woman and The Wrong End of the Telescope
"A gripping reconstruction that illuminates the individual lives brought together by a fatal shipwreck. Carstensen's skillful reporting shows us how love and courage survive in the face of disaster."
– Matthieu Aikins, author of The Naked Don’t Fear The Water
"This is the story of a single catastrophe at sea, but also a window into the savagery of borders writ large."
—Lauren Markham, author of The Faraway Brothers
"A gripping, engrossing page-turner. An unflinching look at one memorable day in the massive migration crisis and the impossible, life-or-death choices faced by everyone involved. These searing stories will stay with me.”
— Jessica Goudeau, author of After the Last Border
Jeanne Carstensen is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Foreign Policy, The World, The Nation, Salon, Nautilus, and The Global Post, among other outlets. She covered the Syrian refugee crisis in Greece and Turkey with support from the Pulitzer Center and was short-listed for the Immigration Journalism Awards...
Photo: Marissa Leshnov