The Great Escape: A True Story of Forced Labor and Immigrant Dreams in America

(Hardback)

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A miracleimmensely moving, powerful, beautiful, and true. It reads like a binge-worthy thriller, told with ridiculous skill and Saket Sonis gigantic heart pounding audibly on every page.
Naomi Klein, New York Times bestselling author of On Fire

In early 2007, Saket Soni, a 28-year-old, Indian-born community organizer received an anonymous phone call from an Indian migrant worker inside a Mississippi labor camp. He and 500 other men were living in squalor in Gulf Coast man camps, surrounded by barbed wire, watched by armed guards, crammed into cold trailers with putrid portable toilets, forced to eat moldy bread and frozen rice. Worse, lured by the promise of good work and green cards, the men had desperately scraped together up to $20,000 each to apply for this opportunity to rebuild oil rigs after Hurricane Katrina, putting their families into impossible debt. During a series of clandestine meetings, Soni and the workers devise a bold plan. In TheGreat Escape, Soni traces the workers extraordinary escape, their march on foot to Washington DC, and their 31-day hunger strike to bring attention to their cause. Along the way, ICE agents try to deport the men, company officials work to discredit them, and politicians avert their eyes. But none of this shakes the workers determination to win their dignity and keep their promises to their families.

Weaving a deeply personal journey with a riveting tale of 21st-century forced labor, Soni takes us into the hidden lives of the foreign workers the US increasingly relies on for cheap skilled labor to rebuild after climate disasters. TheGreat Escapeis the astonishing story of one of the largest human trafficking cases in modern American historyand the workers heroic journey for justice.

Reviews

A miracleimmensely moving, powerful, beautiful, and true. It reads like a binge-worthy thriller, told with ridiculous skill and Saket Sonis gigantic heart pounding audibly on every page. Naomi Klein, New York Times bestselling author of On Fire

I've rarely read a more engrossing taleand a more powerful reminder that in a strained and stressed world we must embrace human solidarity above all. You will not forget this book, not for a long, long time.
Bill McKibben, New York Times bestselling author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out

Saket Sonis American Promise is a revelation: into the underbelly of Americas broken immigration system; into the forces of globalization that move millions of people from the poor to the rich countries without regard for their welfare; into one man's epic struggle to obtain justice for the powerless. The book has the pacing and suspense of the best fiction, but is a true story, told with empathy and humor and wisdom. American Promise promises to take its place in the annals of the finest narrative writing about migration.
Suketu Mehta, author of This Land Is Our Land: An Immigrants Manifesto

An urgent book from a master storyteller. Saket hasn't just helped liberate hundreds of trafficked workershe has also set free an equal number of magical narratives. Right till the end, this extraordinary work is as absorbing as a great novel.
Amitava Kumar, author of Immigrant, Montana: A Novel

A miracleimmensely moving, powerful, beautiful, and true. It reads like a binge-worthy thriller, told with ridiculous skill and Saket Sonis gigantic heart pounding audibly on every page.

Naomi Klein, New York Times bestselling author of On Fire

I've rarely read a more engrossing taleand a more powerful reminder that in a strained and stressed world we must embrace human solidarity above all. You will not forget this book, not for a long, long time.
Bill McKibben, New York Times bestselling author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out

Saket Sonis TheGreat Escapeis a revelation: into the underbelly of Americas broken immigration system; into the forces of globalization that move millions of people from the poor to the rich countries without regard for their welfare; into one man's epic struggle to obtain justice for the powerless. The book has the pacing and suspense of the best fiction, but is a true story, told with empathy and humor and wisdom. TheGreat Escapepromises to take its place in the annals of the finest narrative writing about migration.
Suketu Mehta, author of This Land Is Our Land: An Immigrants Manifesto

An urgent book from a master storyteller. Saket hasn't just helped liberate hundreds of trafficked workershe has also set free an equal number of magical narratives. Right till the end, this extraordinary work is as absorbing as a great novel.
Amitava Kumar, author of Immigrant, Montana: A Novel

One of this countrys most remarkable activists is also an extraordinary writer. From the very first moment of this world-spanning storySaketSoni has you in his grip.The Great Escapemakes you feel astonishment, compassion, anger, and, at the end, something rare these dayshope.
Adam Hochschild, New York Times bestselling author of King Leopolds Ghost and Rebel Cinderella

Saket Sonis The Great Escape is a gripping, devastating, and powerfully written book, a must-read for anyone interested in the real world stakes of migration, corporate corruption, and federal law enforcement.
Olfmi O. Tw, author of Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (And Everything Else)

The Great Escapeispartcrime caper and part epic. Soni pulls offa page-turning marvel revealing the lengths people will go for economic dignityand the equal lengths others will go to wring profit from hope.This is a book you will never forget.
Lauren Markham, author of The Far Away Brothers: Two Young Migrants and the Making of an American Life

A miracleimmensely moving, powerful, beautiful, and true. It reads like a binge-worthy thriller, told with ridiculous skill and Saket Sonis gigantic heart pounding audibly on every page.
Naomi Klein, New York Times bestselling author of On Fire

I've rarely read a more engrossing taleand a more powerful reminder that in a strained and stressed world we must embrace human solidarity above all. You will not forget this book, not for a long, long time.
Bill McKibben, New York Times bestselling author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out

Saket Sonis TheGreat Escapeis a revelation: into the underbelly of Americas broken immigration system; into the forces of globalization that move millions of people from the poor to the rich countries without regard for their welfare; into one man's epic struggle to obtain justice for the powerless. The book has the pacing and suspense of the best fiction, but is a true story, told with empathy and humor and wisdom. TheGreat Escapepromises to take its place in the annals of the finest narrative writing about migration.
Suketu Mehta, author of This Land Is Our Land: An Immigrants Manifesto

An urgent book from a master storyteller. Saket hasn't just helped liberate hundreds of trafficked workershe has also set free an equal number of magical narratives. Right till the end, this extraordinary work is as absorbing as a great novel.
Amitava Kumar, author of Immigrant, Montana: A Novel

Its paced like a thriller, written like a poem, and full of vivid characters whod enliven any novel, but its the true story one of the largest modern-day trafficking incidents in recent history and how Saket Soni and his crew went after the powerful perpetrators. A story as important as it is riveting to read.
Rebecca Solnit, author of Orwells Roses

One of this countrys most remarkable activists is also an extraordinary writer. From the very first moment of this world-spanning storySaketSoni has you in his grip.The Great Escapemakes you feel astonishment, compassion, anger, and, at the end, something rare these dayshope.
Adam Hochschild, New York Times bestselling author of King Leopolds Ghost and Rebel Cinderella

Saket Sonis The Great Escape is a gripping, devastating, and powerfully written book, a must-read for anyone interested in the real world stakes of migration, corporate corruption, and federal law enforcement.
Olfmi O. Tw, author of Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (And Everything Else)

The Great Escapeispartcrime caper and part epic. Soni pulls offa page-turning marvel revealing the lengths people will go for economic dignityand the equal lengths others will go to wring profit from hope.This is a book you will never forget.
Lauren Markham, author of The Far Away Brothers: Two Young Migrants and the Making of an American Life

A miracleimmensely moving, powerful, beautiful, and true. It reads like a binge-worthy thriller, told with ridiculous skill and Saket Sonis gigantic heart pounding audibly on every page.
Naomi Klein, New York Times bestselling author of On Fire

I've rarely read a more engrossing taleand a more powerful reminder that in a strained and stressed world we must embrace human solidarity above all. You will not forget this book, not for a long, long time.
Bill McKibben, New York Times bestselling author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out

Saket Sonis TheGreat Escapeis a revelation: into the underbelly of Americas broken immigration system; into the forces of globalization that move millions of people from the poor to the rich countries without regard for their welfare; into one man's epic struggle to obtain justice for the powerless. The book has the pacing and suspense of the best fiction, but is a true story, told with empathy and humor and wisdom. TheGreat Escapepromises to take its place in the annals of the finest narrative writing about migration.
Suketu Mehta, author of This Land Is Our Land: An Immigrants Manifesto

An urgent book from a master storyteller. Saket hasn't just helped liberate hundreds of trafficked workershe has also set free an equal number of magical narratives. Right till the end, this extraordinary work is as absorbing as a great novel.
Amitava Kumar, author of Immigrant, Montana: A Novel

Its paced like a thriller, written like a poem, and full of vivid characters whod enliven any novel, but its the true story one of the largest modern-day trafficking incidents in recent history and how Saket Soni and his crew went after the powerful perpetrators. A story as important as it is riveting to read.Rebecca Solnit, author of Orwells Roses
An eye-opening look at the world of global itinerant workers who spend years away from home to support their families,The Great Escapeis a must-read for anyone organizing a union drive across cultural or racial lines.
Farah Stockman, The New York Times Book Review
Beyond the research, this book stands out for its startlingly complex and intimate portraits This book will appeal to students of U.S. immigration and civil-rights history, as well as anyone who loves a beautifully told story.

Author Bio

Saket Soni is the founder and director of Resilience Force, a national nonprofit that advocates for the rising workforce that rebuilds after climate disasters. He was profiled as an architect of the next labor movement in USA Today, and his work was the subject of a November 2021 New Yorker feature story (in the magazine and the New Yorker Radio Hour), in which the author called him "truly one of the most interesting people I have ever met in my life." He has testified before Congress on issues of immigration and labor rights. Originally from New Delhi, Soni lives in Washington, DC.