The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs - Hardcover

Valentine, Douglas

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1859845681 ISBN 13: 9781859845684

Publisher: Verso, 2004

Synopsis

The Strength of the Wolf presents for the first time a definitive history of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) from its birth in 1930 until its wrenching termination in 1968. Carefully and extensively documented, the book is based largely on interviews with former FBN agents, and in this respect The Strength of the Wolf represents a new chapter in American history, one that introduces a cast of fabulous characters.

Douglas Valentine tells how the FBN’s premier case-making agents penetrated the arcane world of international drug trafficking and, by uncovering the Establishment’s ties to organized crime, brought about their own demise. As the book reveals in startling detail, the CIA and FBI were often protecting the FBN’s major targets in the Mafia and the French Corsican underworld. The CIA and its Nationalist Chinese allies were found to be the largest drug-trafficking syndicate in the world, but for political and national security reasons, the FBN was prevented from investigating this overarching conspiracy.

About this title

About the Author:

Douglas Valentine has lectured and appeared on TV and radio talk shows, testified as an expert witness, served as a documentary film consultant and worked as a private investigator. His previous books include The Hotel Tacloban, The Phoenix Program and TDY.

From Publishers Weekly:

Before the Drug Enforcement Administration was created in 1973, before the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs was founded in 1968, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) served as the country’s primary drug law enforcement agency. In this thoroughly researched history, Valentine (The Phoenix Program; The Hotel Tacloban, etc.) offers an in-depth look at the FBN’s obscure organization and its various activities, which lasted from 1930 until the end of the ‘60s. Valentine writes extensively about Harry J. Anslinger, the commissioner whose "personality, policies and appointments" defined the agency and the government’s war on drugs for more than 30 years. He describes how FBN officers were trained to "make arrests, gather evidence for presentation in court, test and handle seized narcotics, tail suspects without being seen, and rule their informants with an iron fist." Drawing upon interviews with former agents and federal officers (such as Howard Chappell, George Gaffney and Col. Tully Acampora), Valentine also provides firsthand accounts of bureau operations both at home and abroad, and of business relationships fostered among FBN ranks. Despite the volume’s ambitious premise and Valentine’s hard work, however, this lengthy history will probably fail to engross most casual readers since its material proves dense and, occasionally, difficult. But for political historians and those already interested in the history of the war on drugs, Valentine’s unearthing of rare primary sources should prove invaluable. 16 pages of b&w photos
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Verso
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1859845681
• ISBN 13: 9781859845684
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352