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The Big White Lie: The Deep Cover Operation That Exposed the CIA Sabotage of the Drug War Paperback – 8 Oct. 2012

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 1,210 ratings

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In The Big White Lie, Michael Levine, former DEA agent and bestselling author of Deep Cover, leads the reader through a decade of undercover work. Levine’s prose is fast-moving, highly readable, and hard-hitting. He tells how the beautiful South American "Queen of Cocaine" seduced the CIA into protecting her from prosecution as she sold drugs to Americans; how CIA-sponsored paramilitary ousted, tortured, and killed members of a pro-DEA Bolivian ruling party; and how the CIA created La Corporacion, the "General Motors of cocaine," which led directly to the current cocaine/crack epidemic. As a 25-year veteran agent for the DEA, Michael Levine worked deep-cover cases from Bangkok to Buenos Aires, and witnessed firsthand scandalous violations of drug laws by U.S. officials.

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
1,210 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book excellent, well-written, and enjoyable. They describe the insights as fascinating, eye-opening, and revealing. Opinions are mixed on the story quality, with some finding it incredible and fast-moving, while others say it lacks credibility and has too much chutzpah.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

25 customers mention ‘Readability’25 positive0 negative

Customers find the book excellent, well-written, and enjoyable. They also say it's a classic and well-laid out.

"...Excellent book very well laid out, kind of feel almost desperate for the Author who was put in such a ridiculous position that I don't know how he..." Read more

"A good read! More like a novel in its style but nevertheless very enjoyable...." Read more

"This is a surprisingly well written tell all story of a DEA agent who was shunned and impeded from arresting the biggest cocaine dealers in Latin..." Read more

"Ok book. Ok so it discusses a couple of instances...." Read more

12 customers mention ‘Enlightened’12 positive0 negative

Customers find the book fascinating, eye-opening, and revealing. They say it has enough detail to be informative without getting too filled with new information. Readers also mention the book is entertaining, shocking, and intriguing.

"...Ok so it discusses a couple of instances. Have a great couple pages about the wider context, would love to have heard more about this context...." Read more

"Easy to read............fascinating insight to what is really happening in the global drug industry." Read more

"Interesting yet disturbing insight into the fight against drug trafficking and organised crime in the 80's" Read more

"Terrific book. Well worth the money. Gives an in depth account of the workings of the American government agencies and the corruption involved." Read more

5 customers mention ‘Story quality’3 positive2 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the story quality. Some mention it's incredible and an excellent fast-moving factual thriller, while others say it's unconvincing, hardly seems credible, and has too much chutzpah.

"Increadible story which tallies well with other descriptions of CIA influences on the “threat of Communism” in both South East Asia and South America." Read more

"Initially involving but ultimately unconvincing. Way too much chutzpah and too little context...." Read more

"Excellent fast moving factual thriller! Great work Michael!..." Read more

"It hardly seems credible. It should start with "Once upon a time" as all good fairy tales start with." Read more

Top reviews from United Kingdom

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 April 2014
So it isn't a myth after all, the CIA were totally complicit in drug trafficking. Excellent book very well laid out, kind of feel almost desperate for the Author who was put in such a ridiculous position that I don't know how he had the sensibility to carry on or indeed survive, but he did, so you should read his book! I can't get the "Yellow Coke" out of my head, I mean they may as well have given him a weapon to shoot himself with. Ballsy dude.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 September 2014
A good read! More like a novel in its style but nevertheless very enjoyable. The book exposes a duplicitous US government duping the American population. The U.S. federal government has lost all morality in its war against drugs and historians will no doubt look to place their actions in context with other great crimes by governments on its own population.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 July 2021
This is a surprisingly well written tell all story of a DEA agent who was shunned and impeded from arresting the biggest cocaine dealers in Latin America. Why? Because throughout the 80's at the height of Bush/Reagan's War od Drugs the CIA was important tonnes of cocaine and flooding the streets od LA and Miami with cocaine to finance their intervention in Nicaragua, Bolivia, Guatemala. It is sickening. Olly North and George Bush presided over a genocide
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 March 2021
Ok book. Ok so it discusses a couple of instances. Have a great couple pages about the wider context, would love to have heard more about this context. I agree with him and understand the war in drugs is fake to keep people in jobs, but this book reads like just an annoyed disgruntled DEA agent, to someone that doesn't understand about the phony war and that the US drug deals big time.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 November 2014
Easy to read............fascinating insight to what is really happening in the global drug industry.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 August 2013
If you 've never read any books about south American politics and America's relationship with them, then this is one of the easier books to read . Written from the point of view of a man on the inside slowly coming to terms with his naivity.If you are going to read anything on this subject this is a great one to start with.
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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2018
Increadible story which tallies well with other descriptions of CIA influences on the “threat of Communism” in both South East Asia and South America.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 December 2017
Informative history of his career and drugs world from 1960s to 1990s. Little difficult to follow in areas but well written

Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Very earnest, honest book
Reviewed in the United States on 9 August 2024
Michael did a great job writing this book. I had read his previous work as a teenager a couple of decades ago, and had this sitting around waiting to read. Incredibly fascinating, especially his proximity to geopolitical events and the people he meets during the book's time period. Michael dedicated his life up until the book's writing to countering drugs, and for him to become as disillusioned as he has bears witness to what he saw in the drug war
Richard Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars Great real life read
Reviewed in Canada on 5 February 2024
A well written real life account of the so called War on Drugs.
Mi he's book is a must read.
Ross
5.0 out of 5 stars Read it
Reviewed in Australia on 5 May 2014
A very interesting and entertaining read about political corruption and the phoney war on drugs from a man that lived it and tried to fight it throughout his long career with the DEA, while being harassed by the very government he worked for. No surprises there. The world needs more people like Mike.
One person found this helpful
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Bruce Morrison
4.0 out of 5 stars Educational
Reviewed in Canada on 8 February 2020
This book gave me a different way of looking at the drug wars and a little regarding how politics play such a big part. It had me gripped and glad l bought it.
Jimmy Verona
4.0 out of 5 stars Good background information
Reviewed in the United States on 12 September 2013
This book is an excellent inside look at the Cocaine Trade and the DEA of the 1980s. While told from one man's perspective, and a DEA agent who didn't get along with the changes in government, it is still an extremely compelling story. I've read other books and seen documentaries which mention persons and events also detailed in this book, so it is safe to assume that everything contained within is at least marginally true.
It is also very well known that the CIA has been devilishly involved in toppling governments, trafficking cocaine, and all sorts of devious experiments.
No matter what, this book is extremely entertaining, and a great eye opener into another world.