# The World's Most Dangerous Place (2013) by James Fergusson: reporting from Somalia and its diaspora

> James Fergusson's The World's Most Dangerous Place (2013): where he reported, what the book covers, its Orwell Prize shortlisting, and the debate over its title.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/books/the-worlds-most-dangerous-place-fergusson/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
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## The book

**The World's Most Dangerous Place: Inside the Outlaw State of Somalia** is by **James Fergusson**, a British journalist. It was published in Britain in 2013, and in the United States by Da Capo on 28 May 2013, with 432 pages ([Publishers Weekly](https://publishersweekly.com/978-0-306-82117-2); [Hachette Book Group](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/james-fergusson/the-worlds-most-dangerous-place/9780306821172)).

## Where he reported

Fergusson reported from Mogadishu, from [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), where he spent an extended period with its government, and from the Somali communities of Minneapolis in the United States and London in Britain. He was unable to reach Kismayo because of insecurity ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/?p=13103)).

## What it covers

- **Mogadishu.** The fight between the African Union mission ([AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/)) and al-Shabaab for the capital, which Fergusson compares to Stalingrad, and the foreign security contractors drawn to the conflict ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/?p=13103)). See [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/).
- **Al-Shabaab.** Young recruits and deserters, and the group's response to the 2011 famine, when it denied the scale of the crisis ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/?p=13103)).
- **Puntland and piracy.** Piracy off the coast, the release of hostages, ransoms and insurance payments ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/?p=13103)). See [The Pirates of Somalia](/en/books/the-pirates-of-somalia-bahadur/).
- **The diaspora.** Recruitment of young Somali Americans in Minneapolis, which he describes as passing from peer to peer, and questions of integration and youth violence among Somalis in London ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/?p=13103)). See [Minneapolis and St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/) and [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).
- **Women.** Fergusson criticises the treatment of women and the practice of female genital cutting ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/?p=13103)).

## How it was received

- The British edition was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize in 2014, and Publishers Weekly gave the American edition a starred review ([Publishers Weekly](https://publishersweekly.com/978-0-306-82117-2)).
- Magnus Taylor, in African Arguments, called it "a good book with a bad title": he found it the most enjoyable non-fiction about Somalia he knew, but argued that how dangerous Somalia is "really depends in which part of it you are standing" ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/?p=13103)).
- Michael Maren, in Reason, described it as an exhaustively reported chronicle ([Reason](https://reason.com/?p=195109)).
- A review in American Diplomacy recommended it for readers who want to understand Somalia at the time, including how African Union forces pushed al-Shabaab out of most of the country's cities ([American Diplomacy](https://americandiplomacy.web.unc.edu/2013/11/the-worlds-most-dangerous-place/)).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/worldsmostdanger0000ferg_z9a1)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+World%27s+Most+Dangerous+Place+Fergusson)

## Related pages

- [Getting Somalia Wrong? (2012), Mary Harper](/en/books/getting-somalia-wrong-harper/)
- [Books about Somalis since 2006](/en/history/books-about-somalis-since-2006/)

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