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El Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency
 
 

El Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency [Kindle Edition]

Ioan Grillo
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

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Product Description

Review

Heartbreaking ... El Narco is a fine work of journalism. (Irish Times )

Book Description

The gripping account of the out-of-control drug wars that have brought chaos to Mexico.

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 1248 KB
  • Print Length: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Press; 1 edition (1 Nov 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B005TIM8BW
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #261,936 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars El narco 26 July 2012
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a great book if you want to really find out what is going on today in Mexico. The book is well written and comprehensively covers the situation from grass roots to the top . The great thing is that Mr Grillo conveys the horror of the situation in such a way as not to glamorise the reality of it as so many other writers do when writing about organised crime. Fantastic work I will definitely be on the look out for more work by this Author.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting read. 1 May 2012
By Hairy
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Having become interested in the drug related crime explosion in Mexico after reading Don Winslows "Power of the Dog" I found myself searching through material from books,tv shows and the internet to find more on the subject, I still had not found a book which was a good overview of the subject.

This book is definately that, the first material I have found which clearly covers the whole history of Mexico narcotics problem(both taking and dealing/exporting), the crimnal elements behind them (Early gangsters to the modern day cartels), the response to it from police, army and government to its effect on the whole country.

Its well set out, as easy to read as it is well written and you dont feel you are getting lost in a plethora of names/gangs/government agencys as I have with other books on the subject. Taking the history from the begining makes it easier to follow and it is the best history of how it became like it isfoolowed by an rundown of the current situation that I have read. It also keeps the whole situation in perspective with regards to the rest of the world/its effects on mexico and never seeks to sensationalise the problem for easy goreseeking thrills.

A fascinatinating and worthwhile read that opens your eyes to a problem in a country that is after all partly caused by first world greed for illegal narcotics.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the sort of book I have been really keen to read for a long time; an explanation of the history behind these current events is so important. Having the facts laid out in such a clear way, and with a constant reminder that this is a human (and as such universal) story it provides a really good basis for a serious debate.

Such as the one I had with my Uncle, Aunt and cousins during a christmas dinner in London. All participants had an entrenched point of view. While I do not think anyone succeeded in changing the position of the other, I was able to share some history and context with my relatives.

The story told within is a real one, but given the subject matter it reads like a hollywood movie. It is a gratuituous and glamourous world. One that beggars belief and shocks. I was compelled to keep reading at the same time as being repelled by the horrible people and actions described.

For me, the bottom-line is that this story goes beyond drugs and actually reveals how humanity is incapable of embracing multiple points of view, and ways of life. The hypocrisy exposed is sickening. Drug-dealers, bankers, law-enforcers, politicians- the list of power abused with impunity is part of daily life.

Mexico's cartels reflect the market economics that also make Wal-Mart so successful. The added-value lies with the distributor. The manufacturers of the product are exploited as much as possible. The final client is sold as much product as the distributor can get away with. The 'brand-value' is a clever way of selling high for the lowest quality the market will bear.

At the very least, the legalisation of these drugs would deliver transparency across the supply-chain and we can begin to start holding all aspects accountable.

Such is the relevance and power of the story, I finished hoping to read a sequel. Of course, such a progression will be dictated by events. I only hope that everyone touched or interested in this issue, across the globe, can appreciate how we are all connected, and complicit in this state of affairs.

I really hope that any sequel tells the story of solutions. Lasting and peaceful ones.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars More Than Society Permits
Whenever I review books about the Drug War, the carnage in Mexico, few seem to care. Is it the ostrich-with-its-head-in-the-sand-syndrome, or is it the "I got my blow, my weed. Read more
Published 4 days ago by Ken Brimhall
4.0 out of 5 stars Gritty, factual, seemingly well researched.
Before reading this book I was very ignorant of the drug trade. It reads like a work of fiction with the most bizarre and seemingly impossible plots. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jennifer M. Bower
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating!
If, like me, you have wondered about the extreme violence in stories coming out of Mexico in recent years, but not known a thing about why it is so extreme, this book will both... Read more
Published 1 month ago by N. HAYNES
3.0 out of 5 stars Weak writing style
Don't particularly care for the author's writing style, a tad amateur. He provides a solid book however. Worth a read.
Published 3 months ago by Velez
5.0 out of 5 stars El Narco: The Bloody Rise of Mexican Drug Cartels
The most informative book I have read so far on the immoral and counter-productive US/Mexican drug war. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Krensal
5.0 out of 5 stars El Narco - A warning from history?
If you really want to know how the diabolical situation that exists on America's southern border began and is currently perpetrated, then I suggest you read this excellently... Read more
Published 3 months ago by gary marto
5.0 out of 5 stars Really good read
Quite explicit in the details of how they punished anyone who crossed. Very violent in places and not for the squeamish.
Published 4 months ago by J N Cowie
4.0 out of 5 stars El Narco
I enjoyed the book, finding it informative about a murky world. Despite the odd name, the author is British, so it was good to get a non-American view of the narcotics war south... Read more
Published 4 months ago by phillip crane
3.0 out of 5 stars murder Fatigue
The protagonists in this book gain as much pleasure from
butchering each other as they do from the vast fortunes
the drugs business generates. Read more
Published 6 months ago by lizi
4.0 out of 5 stars El Narco well worth a read
A good read that gets underneath the complexities of Mexico's drug trade and the complex relationship with gangs and politics.
Published 11 months ago by Mluv
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Popular Highlights

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&quote;
The old regime may have been corrupt and authoritarian. But it had a surefire way of managing organized crime: taking down a token few gangsters and taxing the rest. This point is now recognized by most Mexican academics and is a central theme in this book: the Mexican Drug War is inextricably linked to the democratic transition. &quote;
Highlighted by 34 Kindle users
&quote;
The plaza in Mexico refers to the jurisdiction of a particular police authority, such as Tijuana or Ciudad Juárez. However, smugglers appropriated the term plaza to mean the valuable real estate of a particular trafficking corridor. &quote;
Highlighted by 34 Kindle users
&quote;
In the first decade of democracy, up until 2010, one hundred thousand soldiers had deserted from the Mexican military.17 There is a startling implication: country and ghetto boys sign up for the army, get the government to pay for their training, then make real money with the mob. &quote;
Highlighted by 31 Kindle users

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