Alfred W. McCoy is a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He holds a doctorate in south-east Asian history from Yale University and is the recipient of the 2001 Goodman Prize from the Association for Asian Studies. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

About the Author

Alfred W. McCoy is a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He holds a doctorate in south-east Asian history from Yale University and is the recipient of the 2001 Goodman Prize from the Association for Asian Studies. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

Reviews

"A fascinating, often meticulous unraveling of the byzantine complexities of the Southeast Asia drug trade ... a pioneering book." -- The New York Times Book Review

"A fascinating, often meticulous unraveling of the byzantine complexities of the Southeast Asia drug trade ... a pioneering book." -- The New York Times Book Review

It seems that the American government has learned nothing from its war on drugs. In 1972, the CIA attempted to suppress McCoy's classic work, The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia ( LJ 11/15/72 ) , which charged CIA complicity in the narcotics trade as part of its cold war tactics. Now, this revised and expanded edition, incorporating 20 years of research, discusses in almost overwhelming detail how U.S. drug policies and actions in the Third World has created ``America's heroin plague.'' McCoy notes that every attempt at interdiction has only resulted in the expansion of both the production and consumption of drugs. He also charges that 40 years of CIA protection of Asian drug traffickers and active participation in the transport of opium and heroin has undermined U.S. anti-drug efforts. A massive work that raises serious questions. For larger public and academic libraries.-- Wilda Williams, ``Library Journal''