Drug Wars: An Oral History from the Trenches

By Tin Wells, Tim Wells, William Triplett

Interviews with the street dealers, rich smugglers, undercover narcotics agents, inner-city hospital doctors, casual users, and the hopelessly addicted bring readers face to face with the reality of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688095488
• ISBN13: 9780688095482
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Incredibly entertaining and informative. BUY THIS BOOK

This book is a collection of testimonies from different people somehow tied to the drug trade. The various experiences are categorized thematically, including sections such as Cops, Dealers, Recreational Users and Border Wars. The majority of the experiences are taken from within the US, but one chapter does cover the industry in South America and the issue of getting drugs into the country. What is great about this book is that many different aspects are covered, some of which have already been mentioned; it tries to get somewhat of an encompassing view of the trade to make it less biased. Likewise, little writing from the editors exists; what is included is a brief introduction to each section, but no moral stance in their writing is taken which is fitting for such a collection. Most of the testimonies are one to three pages, making this book very easy to digest and many of the stories told are memorable to say the least. That said, this book is entertaining, informative (it mentions the many problems with drugs but also with the "war on drugs" that are usually looked over), and it is very accessible. On another note, this book was published over a decade ago, so even though much has changed since then, it is interesting to use this book as a window to the past. The reason I have not given 5 stars to this book is that I would have liked a little more background on the people who were telling these stories; that would have made the context much greater. Aside from this, I have no problems with this book. Highly recommended for those mature enough and interested the drug trade. NOT recommended for children or sensitive types.