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The Cocaine Wars
A trio of investigative reporters chart the cocaine pipeline from Columbia to Miami and beyond, profile the main traffickers, dealers, and kingpins, and detail the wideranging impact of cocaine use and profits
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 13, 2008
I've been trying to learn more about this (mostly) crappy city that I live in now, and the cocaine renaissance of the 70's & 80's seemed like as good a place as any to start.
This was one of the many books I've grabbed from the returns truck in the library and brought home without really looking at it closely. I ended up committing the librarianly faux pas of reading through the whole book before checking in the back to make sure it had a real bibliography and would therefore have a good chance of being reliable and well-written... and of course, it did not, and was not.
It's one of those histories that is supposed to read like a gripping novel. But in actuality, it reads like the monologue of an adolescent girl recounting her day at school:
"So first, like, there were these cocaine smugglers...no, well, before the smugglers there were a bunch of, like, political events in Bolivia and they ended up with like a ton of coca plants. And then they totally sold it all to the Colombians...oh, and it was the Colombian mafia, and then the cocaine traffickers ended up working with the Miami cops to rip them off, and...oh, but before that, did I tell you about how the Bahamian government was, like, totally corrupt? Anyway, and now some people are in jail and some other people are dead, and it was like totally exciting and cool."
So, I'm going to have to get a more authoritative book. But this one was more or less entertaining, so it wasn't a total wash.
This was one of the many books I've grabbed from the returns truck in the library and brought home without really looking at it closely. I ended up committing the librarianly faux pas of reading through the whole book before checking in the back to make sure it had a real bibliography and would therefore have a good chance of being reliable and well-written... and of course, it did not, and was not.
It's one of those histories that is supposed to read like a gripping novel. But in actuality, it reads like the monologue of an adolescent girl recounting her day at school:
"So first, like, there were these cocaine smugglers...no, well, before the smugglers there were a bunch of, like, political events in Bolivia and they ended up with like a ton of coca plants. And then they totally sold it all to the Colombians...oh, and it was the Colombian mafia, and then the cocaine traffickers ended up working with the Miami cops to rip them off, and...oh, but before that, did I tell you about how the Bahamian government was, like, totally corrupt? Anyway, and now some people are in jail and some other people are dead, and it was like totally exciting and cool."
So, I'm going to have to get a more authoritative book. But this one was more or less entertaining, so it wasn't a total wash.
January 28, 2025
A time capsule of the ‘80s zeitgeist surrounding the War on Drugs for sure. You could put on some synth music and make it a full experience if you really wanted. Only thing of real note here is how apparent early on it was to everyone involved the War on Drugs was a massively expensive failure.
July 14, 2019
Some of the stories of the insanity that was Miami in the 80s have become mixed into our collective cultural DNA. There's the fictional stuff like "Miami Vice" or Brian De Palma's "Scarface," and then there are the real-life incidents and characters that for the most part outstrip the wildest imaginings of Hollywood writers.
"The Cocaine Wars" contains most, if not all, of these foundational myths of the "Magic City" from the Dadeland Massacre to the largest police corruption scandal to hit a metropolis North of the Equator. What the book doesn't contain (in my opinion) is a coherence or overriding voice. In fairness to the authors, this is a book written by a committee and so it can't but lack a distinct voice, and as to getting the key players right and putting flesh on the skeleton, this is a massive cast and a huge amount of information (intrigues, double crosses, etc.) to get across in the space of a few hundred pages. It is a difficult job for even the best of literary jugglers. But I've seen it done before, and done better.
One thing I will say in the book's defense is that it was written in the late 80s before all of the (fine white) dust had settled and a semblance of something like normalcy returned to Miami. Hindsight is 20/20 and the correspondents who put this book together were laboring in the trenches, and in the thick of the Crack Boom (albeit right before the bubble burst) and there were still a few more twists and turns that the narrative took before something like closure descended on the cases treated here. Still, if you're coming to the subject cold, this is a decent entry point, and one could do worse.
"The Cocaine Wars" contains most, if not all, of these foundational myths of the "Magic City" from the Dadeland Massacre to the largest police corruption scandal to hit a metropolis North of the Equator. What the book doesn't contain (in my opinion) is a coherence or overriding voice. In fairness to the authors, this is a book written by a committee and so it can't but lack a distinct voice, and as to getting the key players right and putting flesh on the skeleton, this is a massive cast and a huge amount of information (intrigues, double crosses, etc.) to get across in the space of a few hundred pages. It is a difficult job for even the best of literary jugglers. But I've seen it done before, and done better.
One thing I will say in the book's defense is that it was written in the late 80s before all of the (fine white) dust had settled and a semblance of something like normalcy returned to Miami. Hindsight is 20/20 and the correspondents who put this book together were laboring in the trenches, and in the thick of the Crack Boom (albeit right before the bubble burst) and there were still a few more twists and turns that the narrative took before something like closure descended on the cases treated here. Still, if you're coming to the subject cold, this is a decent entry point, and one could do worse.
June 29, 2011
I got on this kick where I wanted to know the entire history of the cocaine boom of the late 70's, early 80's. This book was thorough, exceptionally well researched, and very entertaining. It reads like fiction, because the people involved, and the things they did were so outlandish and unbelievable that you have trouble accepting that these things really happened. But that adds to the fun. After I read this, I was satisfied that I had all the story I needed. Very well done.
November 13, 2019
Interesting stuff, but plagued by lack of organization, and bends over backwards defending their obvious sources. A bit out of date as stuff that would have been sensational 30 years ago is well known now. Some good stories though.
January 9, 2021
Forget the Glorification of such disgusting behavior such as Drugdealing and Drugs, This Book Is The Real thing on how these monsters, with the excuse of supply and demand made their money and their fates. It ain't pretty. but that's what it is like and how it was.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews