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.

“In vivid prose, Valentine excavates the buried history of the US government’s undying preoccupation with drug use . . . exploring the bloody intersection between drug cartels, criminal syndicates and the shadowy world of US intelligence agencies . . . The Strength of the Wolf couldn’t be more timely. With nearly 2 million Americans sitting in prison on drug charges, it’s vital that we begin to radically rethink our approach to anti-drug laws. Valentine’s book tells us how we got to where we are.” — Jeffrey St. Clair


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.
 Publication
Cloth: May 2004
Paper: October 2006

352 pages
32 b/w illustrations


Cloth
ISBN-13: 978 1 85894 568 4
US$29 / £17 / CAN$40

Paper
ISBN-13: 978 1 84467 564 7
US$17.95 / £9.99 /
CAN$24