Customer Reviews

Cocaine: An Unauthorized Biography

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I picked this book up randomly at Heathrow Airport. I've been wanting to read that history of salt book and figured that this would be an okay second choice.

I was wrong - it was an AMAZING choice. I could not put this book down.

Fun facts, hilarious commentary, outstanding research, and true journalistic investigation.

I hope that this book catches on... I've already promised my copy to 10 people.

Are you the type of person who likes to learn new things and share them with others? Get this book.

Do you like to read alternative accounts of history? Get this book.

Do you like informative writing with a humorous bent? Get this book.

I hope to read more by this author in the future.

Streatfield has written a very interesting account of the history of cocaine from its use in the Andes thousands of years ago to the present day. The book is full of information, stories, personal anecdotes, and legends all interwoven in a light-hearted and humourous style.

He goes in depth into the impact of the drug trade on society and politics in a number of countries as well as providing a thorough review of how cocaine emerged on the European social scene in the late nineteenth century.

He writes as a fascinated observer rather than as a historian - a style which takes a bit of getting used to but overall enhances the reader's enjoyment.

You might not agree with all of Streatfield's opinions but it will give you a new perspective on the cocaine trade, its impact on America, and what can be done about it. The book is fascinating and an eye opener - worth picking up.

Streatfield treats us to a well-researched saga of a nondescript plant turned worldwide scourge.

The harmless looking coca plant was a staple of native South American societies for millennia. The continent's natives chewed a compound based on coca leaves to increase their endurance during long, trans-mountain treks; the chewing of which also reduced the food they would need on these grueling voyages. Coca, when taken in this manner, would provide a prolonged, but mild effect, in comparison with the 'high' that comes from the more pure forms of the substance that have been produced by modern science, medicine, and 'criminal enteprise'.

Streatfield explores the newfound interest in the plant occasioned by medical research in the late 19th century, when many doctors and scientists, during the course of studying this remarkable drug, almost invariably found themselves 'addicted' to it. (Whether cocaine can truly be called 'addictive' is still a subject of debate and controversy. Opponents of the appellation 'addictive' emphasizing that cocaine, unlike drugs such as heroine and alcohol, does not produce withdrawal symptoms in the user who ceases its intake. This is anoverblown debate, unfortunately, as, like many high-profile debates in society, the point of contention is not substantive but semantic.)

Streatfield documents the decline of cocaine use in the early to mid 20th century, and tracks its subsequent rise on the heels of the blossoming drug culture of the 1960's. One interesting point involves the attempted duplication, by an American distributor, of the smoked variety he sampled in a South American labaratory. Unawarre of the crude nature of the mixture, he set a scientist upon the task; and the result was not the comparably weak cocaine smoked in the remote laboratories, but the first ever purification of cocaine into freebase. This massively more potent form, together with the relatively short nature of the high, were to revolutionize the drug culture in America, especially in the inner cities.

Most impressive about Streatfield's work, however, are the steps he takes to get firsthand knowledge, not only of the drug, but of the persons involved in the violent trafficking thereof. He visits and interviews many persons- law enforcement agents, imprisoned dealers, and even the armed compounds of wanted Colombian kingpins- putting himself in predicaments that have been the death of many before him.

This book provides a wonderful history of the plant itself, and a tremendous survey of the politics, crime, and fortunes that have arisen alongside it in the last 40 years. Fascinating.

If you ever wanted to know an extraordinary amount of detail about cocaine and then some, this is the book for you. Written by a documentary filmmaker, Streatfield's enormously thorough tome not only takes you across various geographies, but also through time. Starting with the Incan and Aztec uses of the coca leaf, Streatfield takes us on an incredible journey of a substance that leads us through to the Latin American domination of production while highlighting the U.S. consumerism of the product.

The amount of detail in this book is staggering as Streatfield has spent a lot of time researching materials as well as tracking down individuals around the globe. Statistics are liberally used to drive home his points. For example, in the 1980's the Miami Federal Reserve Bank had an unexpected surplus of US $5.5 Billion. This was more than all of the other 11 Federal Reserve Banks combined. The book is full of statistics like this that demonstrate the scale of impact of cocaine.

In addition to the facts and figures, we are introduced to some fascinating characters on this journey. We learn of Sigmund Freud's addiction to cocaine (there are some who believe that his great work would have not been possible without cocaine), the American distributor George Jung (popularized in the movie Blow), super narco-terrorist Pablo Escobar and his ilk and many others. Some characters are superfluous (i.e. Freud) but others are more central to machinations of the cocaine industry and their impact is thoroughly explored (i.e. George Jung, Carlos Ledher).

If there is a con in the book, it is that some chapters are not labeled as properly as they could be. For example, the chapter where we are introduced to George Jung and his Colombian buddy ends with an extensive discussion about Colombia and Pablo Escobar. The chapter title leads us to believe none of that and probably could have been titled "George leads to Colombian dominance" or something like that. This would give the reader a better idea of what to expect in each chapter.

If you are even the least bit curious about Cocaine, then this book is a must for you. Streatfield's writing style can be a bit whimsical at times but it provides just the right note of humor in a tome of documentary proportions and scope.

Ok, so, basically, there's this really cool leaf in South America that natives have been chewing for medicinal and epicurean purposes since before the reign of the Incas. This leaf, if you believe Streatfeild, was largely responsible for maintaining a labor force to strip South America of its silver - miners would work days without hardly taking a break as long as they had their precious coca. Apparently, this leaf is relatively harmless in its natural form. When you chew it, you will get very small doses of several drugs, one of which provides the name for this book.

Fast forward to present day. The natives are still chewing coca, but instead of mining silver, their harvesting their favorite leaf, converting it to a crude paste, and selling it to narco-traffickers who then make it into pure or almost pure cocaine. Of course, this is illegal, and the United States in particular has a bone to pick about the leaf (unless it's being used for one of its few legitimate purposes - such as flavoring coca-cola, which it is STILL used for, despite popular belief). But people want their cocaine. That's why we've got the drug war. Yes, the drug war is very very stupid. And Streatfield never misses an opportunity to drive this point home. Hard.
I like this book. It has a plethora of trivia that's actually worth knowing, and it provides a new context to several historical events. But I don't really like Dominic Streatfeild. I get the feeling that if I met him I'd have to constantly force myself to smile. Awkward. He's like a nerdy Sherlock Holmes. His plot development techniques get a bit formulaic. I got very tired of paragraphs beginning with questions such as "And then what happened?" followed by him answering his own question. It's a rather tedious method of moving the story along. But I do admire the courage he had to have had to go where he had to go - deep into the nexus of the cocaine industry. He even interviewed two of the most infamous narco-traffickers, the Ochoa Brothers. But once he got in those situations, he didn't really get to the big questions. I don't blame him, of course. I wouldn't feel comfortable accusing one of the world's most powerful criminals of murder or torture either. But it was a bit anti-climatic.
Worth reading.. The chapter on crack is particularly interesting.

This is truly one of the finest books I have read in a long time. Streatfeild starts with the background of Cocaine, how it came in to existence in the western world, what it is, etc. For this he went to libraries and read books that haven't been read in decades about Cocaine. This part can be a little laborious, but very useful and helps you appreciate what cocaine is all about and how it is more complicated than a drug that is just evil. You use the background he gives when you get to the rest of the book where he goes in to how cocaine has basically shaped the entire political and economic part of Latin America. His stories about the smugglers kept me up all night, they were so interesting, informative and lively, even more so as they are true and really matter to millions of people. He actually talks to maney smugglers in America, Columbia, Bolivia and elsewhere. His research throughout is superb. He went to any length to get the real story. Great Job!

Dominic Streatfield presents us with a beautifully crafted and written piece of work. Even though this book contains nearly 500 pages, I suspect it could have numbered far more. Nevertheless, I appreciated his chronological presentation of the role *coca* played in pre-Columbian South America up to the contemporary use and abuse of *cocaine* by Americans and Brits alike (the author is in fact British!). And even though this book is non-fiction, the author's injection of his personality and experiences while researching the book were refreshing and comical. In short, a great read that can provide hours of conversation fodder!

When I originally picked up this book, I wasn't sure what to expect. Would this be another in a series of right- or left-wing infused prose that do very little speaking about the subject but, rather, speak more to a particular political agenda? I am pleased to report that the author did a very good job of playing the role of consumate researcher, and it shows on every page of this book, not political afficianado. From quote after quote, to Mr. Streatfeild's own "experimentation", he goes the extra step to complete this work and should be commended for it. It's always difficult to take a chance on not only reading but writing about a subject so taboo as cocaine, but the characters who provide the content for this book are well worth the read.

While I feel that I came away from this book having learned a great deal, I still think the author should have touched a bit more on the involvement of the CIA and other government agencies in the cocaine trade. (Although they were mentioned in great detail regarding Iran Contra) Overall, the book read very slowly, but the end result was worth it--I'd recommend this book to people who want to learn about a topic they never thought much about, but, beware: Patience is a must!

As a pharmacist, I figured I would get a little bit of "cocaine" history. I got that, plus a view on American vs. Central American politics that was an eye-opener. This book has made me question the motives of American government in the war on drugs, and changed how I view the narcotics trade in general. Very well researched and political.

For those of you with a lot of time and imagination on your hands, I highly recommend Dominic Streatfeild's history of cocaine. It'll probably be the most fascinating beach read you'll ever pick up and as he drives us from the Incas to Pablo Escobar, Streatfeild's sense of adventure is contagious.

His prose is funny and not as heavy-handed as some researchers'. I think that if all history came in this format, American schools wouldn't have so many problems with disinterested teenagers.

The fact that Streatfeild includes himself and his shenanigans in the book may seem unprofessional to some, but to me, it made the book a hell of a lot more fun to read. I really hope to read more of his work in the future (I wouldn't mind a thorough history of opium, because Martin Booth's version is hardly as readable as this).