Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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49 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Best Ever in its Genre, July 11, 2001
"Barry & `the Boys': the CIA, the Mob, and America's Secret History" is a book that will expand the audience for parapolitical literature. "Barry and the Boys" is written to appeal to the serious student of Deep Political arrangements as well as the "casual interest" reader looking for something to help him or her understand today's news while simultaneously being entertained. This journalistic tour de force presents the story of Barry Seal's career in intelligence and drug and gun running - from its inception as a teenager working along side Lee Oswalld in the New Orleans CAP under David Ferrie, to its conclusion, "in a hail of bullets, with George Bush's private phone number in his wallet." It is rare these days for a single work to offer more than a few minor details of new information to add to our overall understanding of cold war crimes of State. It is even more rare to find a book in this category that satisfies both the intellect's need for new information and the heart's desire for human interest and style. Hopsicker's work - the result of two and a half years of full-time field investigation, living out of suitcases and pushing the limits of his own personal safety in his quest for "the story" - delivers all of this by the planeload. Hopsicker ultimately got his story, and oh, what a story! Though he obviously did an enormous amount of research on the body of work already available, the details are all Mr. Hopsicker's - hence, no footnotes. But what his work lacks in scholarly annotations, he more than makes up for in old-fashioned sweat and shoeleather. The book is filled with the product of interviews with the principle participants from both sides of the Barry Seal saga. And through the judicious use of primary documents (available in a 58-page appendix), many of which have never been made publically available until now, Hosicker provides corroboration and authentication for his human sources. Among those primary documents, the one on the cover is a doozey: a group portrait of Operation 40 members at a January 22, 1963 meeting in Mexico City. (I wonder what they could be talking about?) "Barry and `the Boys'" presents all of this material in a fascinating tapestry of new information and established facts stitched together with incisive wit. The result is an entertaining and illumitating whole, documenting 30 years of a man's life and a nation's peril. In a perfect world, "Barry and `the Boys'" would be a best seller. In this world, it is still going to do very well.
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38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The roots of today's current events, October 4, 2001
Our government is in the hands of a criminal family. This book makes that clear. This book is about a lot more than Barry Seal, and for further discussion of what this book IS about, you can join the email list CIA_DRUGS@yahoogroups.comThis book covers a span of time that begins pretty much with the cold war, but it's really the root of a lot of stuff that is going on today. Barry Seal was dealing drugs for George Bush. Barry Seal was involved with Iran-Contra. Barry Seal's assassination was ordered by Oliver North. Running drugs in and through this country has financed covert operations that would be beyond imagination if they weren't all too true. If your family has been torched by the scourge of drug addiction (as too many families have been) you can not afford to turn away from this horrendous truth. Even more, it is no small detail that Afghanistan is known for its opium production. It's important to know this, and to learn as much as possible about it. Even more important is to work together to figure out what on earth we are going to DO about it -- beside "Pledging Allegiance to the Flag." There's a lot more to this flag than flying it -- and a lot more to democracy than voting. We're losing our freedoms, we're losing our country, and we are losing our lives to a conspiracy that is a lot more than a theory. Read this book. Than read the rest of my reviews. Do your own reading. Maybe we can figure out what to do before it's too late. With liberty, and justice, for ALL. My only criticism is that the book could have been more readable. I wasn't crazy about the style of the language, but maybe that's just the style of the investigator (Hopsicker) in the work that he was doing. It's not my style. That doesn't make it a bad thing, just a little harder for me to follow, that's all. Hopsicker is a prolific and readable poster on the CIA_DRUGS list, and shares a great deal that is useful, so believe me, I don't hold his particular style against him. I just wish it were more readable for the general public, so that more people could be made aware. If you like James Bond type reading, though, or know someone who does, those are the people to target with this book. Those, and anyone who wants to know what on earth is going on in this world today.
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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It Brings It All Together, May 30, 2001
An amazing story. Barry Seal was just a kid who flew well, That talent lead him straight into the arms of the shadowy world of "clandestine services." Daniel Hopsicker has really brought an amazing story to the American public. This book exposes the underbelly of corruption and assassination that has run rampant in our republic. This book has much to tell about the JFK assasination major players. Seal met Lee Harvey Oswald at Civil Air Patrol summer camp—along with David Ferrie. Hopsicker's revelations about Ferrie's involvement with intel agencies and extracircular activities are astounding. The whole book breaks much new ground. Barry Seals's photos and documents tell a story all in themselves. It seems that Barry Seal was getting ready to talk and through Barry and 'the boys', Barry gets his wish. Barry and 'the boys' lets the chips fall where they may. Hopsicker takes swings and lands on corruption no matter what party. A must read!!!
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