The Candy Machine: How Cocaine Took Over the World
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Review
The Candy Machine is highly addictive (Metro )
It is hard to decide if Tom Feiling's future lies as a QC or the new Paul Theroux. He has written a vivid, argumentative, arresting book (The Sunday Telegraph )
I've read a few documentary accounts of the rise of cocaine, and this might be the best of them. It's clear, sharp and solid. Very well told (Evening Standard )
An important study of the cultivation, usage and suppression of cocaine (FT )
A cracking read . . . Strong stuff, beautifully argued (Literary Review )
It is hard to decide if Tom Feiling's future lies as a QC or the new Paul Theroux. He has written a vivid, argumentative, arresting book (The Sunday Telegraph )
I've read a few documentary accounts of the rise of cocaine, and this might be the best of them. It's clear, sharp and solid. Very well told (Evening Standard )
An important study of the cultivation, usage and suppression of cocaine (FT )
A cracking read . . . Strong stuff, beautifully argued (Literary Review )
Product Description
Cocaine is big business and getting bigger. Governments spend millions on an unwinnable war against it, yet it's now the drug of choice in the West. How did the cocaine economy get so huge? Who keeps it running behind the scenes?
In The Candy Machine Tom Feiling travels the trade routes from Colombia via Miami, Kingston and Tijuana to London and New York. He meets Medillin hitmen, US kingpins, Brazilian traffickers, and talks to soldiers and narcotics officers who fight the gangs and cartels. He traces cocaine's progress from legal 'pick-me-up' to luxury product to global commodity, looks at legalization programmes in countries such as Switzerland, and shows how America's anti-drugs crusade is actually increasing demand.
Cutting through the myths about the white market, this is the story of cocaine as it's never been told before.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was expecting a much more glamorous tale at a much faster pace (never judge a book by its cover), however was surprised to read a fascinating and well researched account of how cocaine impacts countries globally in a multitude of ways. His country specific chapters are fascinating narco-histories of those countries.
It is possible to get bogged down as he makes his academic arguments to an audience beyond the lay-reader, but it is worth sticking with as no matter what your view on the topic there is a wealth of well presented information about this world that shows no signs of vanishing.
It is possible to get bogged down as he makes his academic arguments to an audience beyond the lay-reader, but it is worth sticking with as no matter what your view on the topic there is a wealth of well presented information about this world that shows no signs of vanishing.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an important story extremely well told. Feiling shows clearly how, since the 1970s, the cocaine trade has insinuated itself into societies like Colombia, Jamaica and Mexico, offering vast financial rewards to marginal groups excluded from the global economy ('drug cartels'), looking to fund insurgent movements ('terrorists') or attempting to securitise their export monopolies ('drug enforcement'). His analysis demonstrates that the illicit trade serves the interests of dysfunctional nation states as much as it does the drugs business - and, consequently, how the two have so frequently merged. It explains why the War on Drugs, despite its huge destructiveness to civil society, has been locked in stasis for so long - and why legalisation, the only feasible solution, is so fiercely resisted by governments.
Format:Paperback
Fascinating tale of the narcotics trade and rise to prominence of Cocaine, from it's late-19th/early 20th Century 'health tonic' legal heyday, through prohibition, it's rising status as a luxury indulgence in the 70s, through to being the de-facto global consumer commodity it is today. Whilst there's a slight weakness in tone ( the author's voice comes across like that of a BBC Three presenter; presumably this is aimed at a younger market) and it puts forth some questionable positions (implying that people who don't 'experiment' with illegal drugs are somehow socially maladjusted), this is a comprehensive, balanced and above all rational treatise of what is an often murky subject, replete with battle-hardened argument positions on both sides.
It also serves well as a history of the trade on blighted countries such as Colombia, Jamaica and Mexico (and the often disastrous consequences of US involvement in them). The fact that the conclusions - that the so-called 'war' on drugs is a catastrophic failure, enforcing prohibition is counter-productive and that treating the problem as a social health issue rather than a criminal justice one would be a helpful first start - are so obvious from the start perhaps indicates the intractability of this problem and our society's inability to engage with it. Worth reading, even if your personal drug usage extends only to a strong cup of tea...
It also serves well as a history of the trade on blighted countries such as Colombia, Jamaica and Mexico (and the often disastrous consequences of US involvement in them). The fact that the conclusions - that the so-called 'war' on drugs is a catastrophic failure, enforcing prohibition is counter-productive and that treating the problem as a social health issue rather than a criminal justice one would be a helpful first start - are so obvious from the start perhaps indicates the intractability of this problem and our society's inability to engage with it. Worth reading, even if your personal drug usage extends only to a strong cup of tea...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent page turner.
Great insightful book that demonstrates thorough research without over theorising the facts. The result is great documentary book behind the face of a thrilling read.
Published 9 months ago by velo
Good insight
I appreciated that the author went into detail about this history of cocaine before he took us onto the path of all parties involved in it. Read more
Published on 3 April 2010 by M. Samaroo
Brillliant
Really enjoyed this book. very informative, exciting and challenging. Feiling's case for the legalisation of drugs should not be missed.
Published on 11 Oct 2009 by J. Feldberg
very informative
lots of information but presented in a not too easy form. interesting conclusions which are entirely rational
Published on 10 Sep 2009 by A. J. Watsonb
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