Reading 'Cocaine', I had the sense of an author developing as a writer as the book went on: I found the first few pages too full of slang, and almost put the book down. However, as the account went from Condamine's journey in Ecuador to Freud's discovery of cocaine in Vienna, to the origins of Coca Cola, I realised that this author's researches were comprehensive and found myself marking more and more interesting passages, e.g. the behaviour of rats who are given cocaine (they take it until they die) compared to rats who are given heroin (they adjust). As the focus of the book turns to post-war America and to Columbia, I was gripped. The account of the failings of the War on Drugs and on the human costs of the conflict between the Medellin/ Cali cartel and the Columbian state is first rate. This is a fascinating book for anyone interested in history, contemporary politics and geopolitics. I commend Dominic Streatfeild as an author whose bravery in arranging interviews with Columbian drug lords is matched by his command of the material.Read full review
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