The Uncaged Sky

Shortlisted for The Age Book of the Year for Non Fiction Shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Non-fiction 2023 ‘The sky above our heads was uncaged and unlike us, free.’ The extraordinary true story of Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s fight to survive 804 days imprisoned in Iran. On September 12, 2018 British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert was arrested at Tehran Airport by Iran’s feared Islamic Revolutionary Guards. Convicted of espionage in a shadowy trial presided over by Iran’s most notorious judge, Dr Moore-Gilbert was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Incarcerated in Tehran’s Evin and Qarchak prisons for 804 days, this is the full and gripping account of her harrowing ordeal. Held in a filthy solitary confinement cell for months, and subjected to relentless interrogation, Kylie was pushed to the limits of her endurance by extreme physical and psychological deprivation. Kylie’s only lifeline was the covert friendships she made with other prisoners inside the Revolutionary Guards’ maximum-security compound where she had been ‘disappeared’, communicating in great danger through the air vents between cells, and by hiding secret letters in hava khori, the narrow outdoor balcony where she was led, blindfolded, for a solitary hour each day. Cut off from the outside world, Kylie realised she alone had the power to change the dynamics of her incarceration. To survive, she began to fight back, adopting a strategy of resistance with her captors. Multiple hunger strikes, letters smuggled to the media, co-ordinated protests with other prisoners and a daring escape attempt led to her transfer to the isolated desert prison, Qarchak, to live among convicted criminals. On November 25, 2020, after more than two years of struggle, Kylie was finally released in a high stakes three-nation prisoner swap deal orchestrated by the Australian government, laying bare the complex game of global politics in which she had become a valuable pawn. Written with extraordinary insight and vivid immediacy, The Uncaged Sky is Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s remarkable story of courage and resilience, and a powerful meditation on hope, solidarity and what it means to be free. 'immensely readable' – The Sydney Morning Herald 'reads like an espionage thriller' – The Australian 'stunning' – Osher Günsberg 'brilliant’ – Mia Freedman 'utterly engrossing' – Australian Book Review ‘Kylie Moore-Gilbert is one pretty remarkable woman’ – Sarah Abo ‘There are no heroes and villains in The Uncaged Sky … only human beings. The depth of Moore-Gilbert’s empathy for the human condition is extraordinary … [She] sees deeply into the complexity of the human tragedy, and she writes of it with the compelling clarity of genius.’ – Alex Miller, author of A Brief Affair ‘Moments in her memoir The Uncaged Sky will leave readers breathless. The sheer terror, uncertainty and gnawing dread of a brutal regime closing in all around ... Powerfully and artfully written, the book has moments of joy shining through: the loving friendships made inside prison; the exhilaration of “escaping” to that uncaged sky, standing on the prison roof; and the strength Moore-Gilbert found to defy her captors amid the ceaseless cruelty of her incarceration.’ – Ben Doherty, The Guardian ‘The Uncaged Sky is a brilliant and powerful book.’ – Ann Cunningham, Booktopia ‘a remarkable story of courage’ – The Canberra Times

When I was a child, I would have looked you in the eye and told you I wanted to be a bird when I grew up. It was every child's dream at that time to be anything they weren't. Life passed with every fleeting imagination then, every absurd thought that entertained our masterminds. Worlds were made and forgotten to come and go and use as we pleased, where life was normal. We clothed ourselves with imagination as with immortality... The world is a marvelous place for a young Hebrew girl with a burgeoning imagination. Abra's audacity, frankness, and strong sense of justice often put her family at risk, to the unease of her elder brother, Benjamin, who understands the rising intensity of their world under Nazi occupation better than she. Life is twisted unexpectedly when, one November night in Vienna, Jewish shops, synagogues, and homes are burned by the Schutzstaffel. With the death of their father and the disappearance of their mother, sixteen-year-old Benjamin is forced to take care of his little sister on his own. Together in an abandoned attic, they create a hidden world to preserve their childhood and keep their dreams, humor, talents, and love alive. Despite such disheartening odds, Benjamin, Abra, and their friend Enoch are determined to cling to their humanity as their humanity is reduced to ashes. Where Birds Go to Die is a story of persistence, faith, and the exploration of the complexity and beauty of the human soul.

Strength within un-caged depicts strength and the will to see optimism in even the darkest of places. Regardless of what life has to throw at one there is light at the other end. Thoughts shared so others may know they are not alone.

As head of Australia's consular service, Ian Kemish played a central role in the nation's response to some of the most dramatic events of the early twenty-first century, including the September 11 attacks and the Bali bombings. He led the small band of Australian consuls as they confronted the new challenges of global jihadism, supporting families who lost loved ones, and negotiated the release of Australians unjustly detained abroad. In The Consul, Kemish offers a unique and personal perspective on Australia's foreign affairs challenges of the last two decades, from hostage diplomacy to natural disasters and evacuations from war zones. This timely and engaging book also asks us to consider how world events have changed the way we travel now and in the future.

Fourteen women testify to the shocking human rights abuses in Iranian prisons WINNER OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE 2023 'A must-read for anyone concerned with human rights in Iran. A gripping, moving and utterly shocking account.' Kylie Moore-Gilbert Iranian prisons systematically violate human rights. In White Torture, fourteen women, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, share their experiences of imprisonment: harassment and beatings by guards, total blindfolding and denial of medical treatment. Angry interrogators threaten their families and lie about their whereabouts. One prisoner is even told she is dead. None of the women have committed crimes – they are prisoners of conscience or held hostage as bargaining chips. Through torture, the Iranian state hopes to remake their souls. These interviews, carried out by Narges Mohammadi while each woman was in prison or facing charges, are astounding documents of resistance and integrity. As Iranians still fight for Woman, Life, Freedom, White Torture indicts the regime for its crimes.

Nightmarish or whimsical, irreverent or swashbuckling, each of these short stories is an adventure in imagination. Journey from the here and now into New Skies. A new generation of science fiction fans is at hand. A new generation that is curious, smart, audacious, and experimental. It is for them that Patrick Nielsen Hayden-winner of the World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology - has selected these stories from the thousands published by contemporary SF writers over the past two decades. Here are writers such as Philip K. Dick, Orson Scott Card, Jane Yolen, Greg Bear, Kim Stanley Robinson, Steven Gould, Connie Willis, Spider Robinson, and many more. Here is a careening adventure along the outside of a tower looming miles above the ground, and a tale of desperate survival on the deadly surface of the Moon. Here is a world in which children divorce their parents, and the story of a four-dimensional boy in a three-dimensional world. Here are future young people rebuilding after terrible disasters, and here is a story of the future development of baseball-on Mars. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1875.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1861.