THE BOOK
WE CAME BY SEA BY HORATIO CLARE
We Came by Sea is the untold story of the small boats crisis: the story of the volunteers who help thousands of refugees, of lifeboat crews mounting a great search and rescue operation, of an uncelebrated Britain. It is a journey through a nation as great and good as the people in the dinghies believe Britain to be. It is not the story we have been told, and it is a true story.
HORATIO CLARE
Horatio Clare is a critically acclaimed author and journalist. His first book, Running for the Hills won the Somerset Maugham Award. His second book, Truant was heralded as ‘a stunningly-written memoir’ by Irish Times. Down to the Sea in Ships won the Stanford-Dolman Travel Book of the Year 2015. Horatio’s first book for children, Aubrey and the Terrible Yoot, won the Branford Boase Award 2016 for best debut children’s book. Clare has written two books about mental health Heavy Light and most recently Your Journey, Your Way. Orison for A Curlew was Horatio’s first book for Little Toller; he is also the author of Something of his Art. He lives in West Yorkshire.
Photography © Marc Sethi
The judges said: Curious and provocative, heartening and humane, We Came by Sea details the greatest rescue operation ever mounted in peacetime Britain. At a time when the media seem allergic to stories of hope, Clare captures myriad tales of optimism, connection and camaraderie.
2025 Non-Fiction judges
