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I, like others I'm sure, was waiting for this book for a bit. I had pre-ordered it weeks before it came out and it represents about the tenth book I've read on the subject. I've lived in Mexico for one year, speak passing Spanish, and before my time in Mexico itself I lived in San Diego directly on the US/Mexico border.
If you're looking for an accessible and easy read on growth, impact, and interactions of narco cartels in Mexico, don't get this book. One of my personal favorites is The Fire Next Door: Mexico's Drug Violence and the Danger to America. In that, you'll get a very engaging and straight forward book that lays out, with graphic description, the corruption, violence, and destabilization caused by narcotics cartels in Mexico.
In Narcoland: The Mexican Drug Lords And Their Godfathers, however, you're going to be exposed to a long stream of dates, names, and places. The writing is laden with facts and as others have pointed out, it is a difficult read.
As an example, most books on narco cartels talk about "El Chapo" Guzman being smuggled out of jail in a laundry cart. It was the popular story and it certainly is Hollywood-esque so it just continues to get repeated through most books. You'll find that very few books on narco cartels involve actual in-country first person research. Anabel Hernandez however is a glaring exception and lays out the math with interviews, witnesses, and transcripts to show how Guzman was dressed up as police officer and simply walked out the front door.
Further, the discussion of the Oliver North's involvement in the "Contra supply chain" is the most detailed discussion of Mexican cartel involvement I have read to date during the Iran Contra Affair.
So figure out what your level of involvement is in narco cartels. Some people watch television news, others read Foreign Affairs: it depends on how deep you want to understand a subject. The deeper you go, the harder (but the more valuable) the material.
- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Verso; 1 edition (September 10, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1781680736
- ISBN-13: 978-1781680735
- Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.4 x 9.5 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
- Customer Reviews: 82 customer reviews
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Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#923,246 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #976 in Mexico History
- #647 in Latin American History (Books)
- #879 in Caribbean & Latin American Politics
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