The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs [Paperback]

Douglas Valentine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 2006

The secret history of how a government agency succeeded in infiltrating the Mafia and the French Connection, but was brought down by the CIA and FBI when it began uncovering the Establishment's ties to organized crime. Voted Outstanding Academic Title in 2004 by Choice.

The Strength of the Wolf is the first complete history of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN), which existed from 1930 until its wrenching termination in 1968. The most successful federal law enforcement agency ever, the FBN was populated by some of the most amazing characters in American history, many of whom the author interviewed for this book. Working as undercover agents and with mercenary informers around the globe, these freewheeling "case making" agents penetrated the Mafia and the French connection, breaking all the rules in the process, and uncovering the Establishment's ties to organized crime. Targeted by the FBI and the CIA, the case-makers were, ironically, victims of their own fabulous success in hunting down society's predators. An incredible, never-before-told story, The Strength of the Wolf provides a new, exciting, and revealing look at an important chapter in American history.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Before the Drug Enforcement Administration was created in 1973, before the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs was founded in 1968, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) served as the country’s primary drug law enforcement agency. In this thoroughly researched history, Valentine (The Phoenix Program; The Hotel Tacloban, etc.) offers an in-depth look at the FBN’s obscure organization and its various activities, which lasted from 1930 until the end of the ‘60s. Valentine writes extensively about Harry J. Anslinger, the commissioner whose "personality, policies and appointments" defined the agency and the government’s war on drugs for more than 30 years. He describes how FBN officers were trained to "make arrests, gather evidence for presentation in court, test and handle seized narcotics, tail suspects without being seen, and rule their informants with an iron fist." Drawing upon interviews with former agents and federal officers (such as Howard Chappell, George Gaffney and Col. Tully Acampora), Valentine also provides firsthand accounts of bureau operations both at home and abroad, and of business relationships fostered among FBN ranks. Despite the volume’s ambitious premise and Valentine’s hard work, however, this lengthy history will probably fail to engross most casual readers since its material proves dense and, occasionally, difficult. But for political historians and those already interested in the history of the war on drugs, Valentine’s unearthing of rare primary sources should prove invaluable. 16 pages of b&w photos
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

Valentine's book is an important and necessary story that reads like a coherent speed freak's monologue. (Counterpunch )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 554 pages
• Publisher: Verso (October 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844675645
• ISBN-13: 978-1844675647
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,032,320 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #32 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Crime & Criminals  > War on Drugs

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important but little known history, July 28, 2004

By 

D. G Wood - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs (Hardcover)

Based on exhaustive research and interviews, this detailed and extensively footnoted history of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics is both a fine reference work for scholars, and an eye-opening, exciting narrative for the general reader. The book itself is the highest quality, made to last for generations, and includes a section of rare photographs, and an appendix consisting of a rogue's gallery from the FBN's files. The FBN, headed by Harry J. Anslinger, was the precursor agency to today's DEA. The War on Drugs that has been waged for years now, with a price is no object mentality, is now being reconsidered by more and more people as either an ill-considered mistake, or perhaps even as a Big Government/Big Brother monkey on the public's fiscal back. The War has surely not stopped the supply of drugs, and if you have ever thought that it was never intended to, but wondered why that was so, The Strength of The Wolf, will provide some answers. There are many books about drug enforcement (or lack thereof) in the recent past, but this work is unique in that it looks at what might be called the dawn of drug enforcement.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Critical historical context for the War on Drugs, March 19, 2007

By 

R. C. O'Brien (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs (Hardcover)

Given how much money this country spends to fight drug dealers and to lock up drug dealers & users both, I am amazed how little I hear people question the War on Drugs.

This book provides the historical framework critical to understand this, with the War on Drugs beginning as an attempt to provide what equates to trade protection to the pharmaceutical companies (who competed with the real thing of the day, opium/heroin), and how later racism led to marijuana users being targeted as well (Black Americans in Harlem and Latinos in the SW and California), and of course the violence fueled by the cocaine/crack trade made it a national buzzword.

It is a crime that this assault on our own citizens continues today - one would think that after the dismal failure of Prohibition that we would have learned our lesson.

Hopefully this book can start raising a consciousness to question it, at the very least more public debate (without the hysteria) is long overdue.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great information, October 15, 2010

By 

Matthew C. Kenny "Matt Kenny" (NY) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs (Paperback)

This book is packed with great information. It is, however, very sloppy. As someone familiar with Kennedy assassination literature, the chapter referring to the FBN's various connections to the Big Hit is particularly telling (there is a crazy part on CIA Agent Desmond Fitzgerald that is loaded with implication and woefully inadequate in context that was just irresponsible). Valentine hops around incoherently and speculatively, overshadowing some of the great stories he's found. That said, I would say those great stories are worth it. I've read it twice, developed a deep skepticism and still enjoyed the book.