Description
Book SynopsisAward-winning journalist - and author of Hello, Shadowlands - Patrick Winn reveals the inside story of a forbidden republic - the narco-state of the Wa The jagged mountains dividing China and Burma belong to the Wa, an indigenous group who have outwitted the CIA to create the world's mightiest narco-state, controlling more territory than Israel and with more troops than Sweden. Are they crime lords? Or visionaries? Wa State has become a real nation with its own highways, anthems, schools and flags. Its leaders promise a utopia, using profits from trafficking heroin and meth to attain what China's other frontier peoples, Tibetans and Uighurs, can only dream of: a state of their own. Patrick Winn (author of Hello, Shadowlands) embarks on a risky journey of discovery, chasing clues about the forbidden republic from Thailand to Burma to the secretive Wa State itself.
Trade ReviewThose who fail to read this forsake their chance to know the truth * Roberto Saviano *
An outstanding book
packed with history, humour, and adventure. America's struggle to thwart them Winn is the perfect guide to these highland outlaws and their incredible, defiant narcostate. This is
the best reportage to come out of Southeast Asia in years. * Graeme Wood, author of The Way of Strangers *
A riveting portrait of a little-known and often vilified people; a harrowing tale of Asia's epic, multibillion-dollar drugs trade. * Thant Myint-U, author The Hidden History of Burma *
Winn has made a
riveting read out of the largely overlooked- but critically important- Wa State .... The history behind it, the masterminds pulling the strings, and the many CIA operations against them. It's a
fascinating and incredibly well-researched dive into Asia's underworld and some of the greatest narcotics traffickers in the region. And above all, it's
beautifully crafted storytelling. * Isobel Yeung *
Unputdownable .... An
authentic page-turner revealing why the global drug problem remains unsolved. * Khuensai Jaiyen, former secretary to drug lord Khun Sa *
Part gangster saga, part espionage thriller, and part liberation epic, Winn's narrative alternates between rollicking adventure and harrowing violence conveyed in vivid, muscular prose. * Publishers Weekly *
At times,
Narcotopia reads like a satire from the mind of Joseph Heller ... Winn tells this complex story with
admirable clarity and a healthy dose of humour, and has drawn on a huge range of CIA and DEA documents, 'some declassified, others acquired by creative means'. * The Daily Telegraph *
