--- description: Find out why "The Zorg" is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. title: 'The Zorg' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2025 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97161da78463ce35/6998cb4266d4e363a6cbcfec/100_Books_2025_The-Zorg-Siddharth-Kara.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 12, 2025 # The Zorg by Siddharth Kara by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Disastrous ocean voyages are the stuff of best sellers—think David Grann’s _The Wager_ and Sophie Elmhirst’s _A Marriage at Sea_—but none carry the social and historical weight of _The Zorg: A Tale of Greed and Murder That Inspired the Abolition of Slavery._ SiddharthKara, a Pulitzer finalist for his investigative debut, _Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives,_ now turns his talents to a horrific tragedy whose aftermath transformed the court of public opinion. In 1781, the _Zorg,_ an English ship with a small crew and many Africans in its hold, left the coast of present-day Ghana, bound for sugar plantations in Jamaica. After the captain fell ill, a villainous “passenger” assumed command; the Zorgmeandered off-course for weeks, with dwindling supplies and outbreaks of disease. The crew’s repugnant solution speaks to the cruelties of the Atlantic slave trade and led to Britain’s abolition of slavery. Kara’s book reads like a thriller, narrative nonfiction at its finest. —_Hamilton Cain_ **_These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser._** **Buy Now:** _The Zorg_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9781250348227 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/4oveMOa "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329571/the-zorg/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329571/the-zorg/"},"headline":"The Zorg","datePublished":"2025-11-12T13:00:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T01:03:27.747Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329571/the-zorg/","keywords":["Books","E-Commerce","list","ecommerce","Special Project"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97161da78463ce35/6998cb4266d4e363a6cbcfec/100_Books_2025_The-Zorg-Siddharth-Kara.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97161da78463ce35/6998cb4266d4e363a6cbcfec/100_Books_2025_The-Zorg-Siddharth-Kara.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329571/the-zorg/","name":"The Zorg"}}]}] ```