Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1086 in Books
• Published on: 2004-07-02
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Morning Star, September 2003
Will be cult reading among backpackers for years to come.

Synopsis
Marching Powder is the story of Thomas McFadden, a small-time English drug smuggler who was arrested in Bolivia and thrown inside the notorious San Pedro prison. He found himself in a bizarre world, the prison reflecting all that is wrong with South American society. Prisoners have to pay an entrance fee and buy their own cells (the alternative is to sleep outside and die of exposure), prisoners' wives and children often live inside too, high quality cocaine is manufactured and sold from the prison, and all the police from the governor downwards can be bribed. Under the surface is a frightening level of violence - Thomas's life was often in danger and one of his friends was murdered by the police when he threatened to expose the corruption in the prison. Thomas ended up making a living by giving backpackers tours of the prison - he became a fixture on the backpacking circuit and was named in the Lonely Planet guide to Bolivia. When he was told that for a bribe of USD5000 his sentence could be overturned, it was the many backpackers who'd passed through who sent him the money. Sometimes shocking, sometimes funny, Marching Powder is an always riveting story of survival.

Customer Reviews

Worth the read
Just to provide a bit of balance to some of the reviews below... this is no Papillion. It's not particularly well written and is often disjointed while you get the feeling that the account is rather selective. Some stories could do with elaboration while others could have been ommitted. This not with standing, it is an interesting story and gives some fascinating insight into the crazy world of a Bolivian prison.

Intoxicating read.
An insight into one of the most fascinating though thoroughly grim prisons in the world. Its hard to take in what you're reading, knowing it actually happens in a prison. I have moral issues with Thomas, though as a survivor nobody can fault his sheer stamina and drive to better himself in the face of well, some hell of an adversity within prison life. This book offers a truly insightful view of a world a million miles away, totally beyond our own comprehension.

Fantastic book, a must read!
A fascinating and extremely well written account of Thomas McFadden's incarceration in Bolivia's San Pedro prison. The stories of the inner workings of this prison are just incredible. It usually takes me weeks, or even months, to read a book (short attention span), but I became so engrossed in this book that I finished it in 3 just days.
Fantastic book! Highly recommended!