Soldiers and Kings Audiobook By Jason De León cover art

Soldiers and Kings

Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling

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Soldiers and Kings

By: Jason De León
Narrated by: Jason De León
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WINNER OF THE 2024 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTION

A TIME 10 Best Nonfiction Book of 2024 • An NPR Book We Love 2024 • A New York Times Notable Book of 2024 • A Boston Globe Best Book of 2024

“A work of extraordinary reportage and compassion...[it] will shock you, move you, and leave you changed.”
—Matthew Desmond, Pulitzer Prize-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Evicted and Poverty, by America

“An enlightening, frightening, unforgettable read.”
—Sandra Cisneros, bestselling author of The House on Mango Street

An intense, intimate and first-of-its-kind look at the world of human smuggling in Latin America, by a MacArthur "genius" grant winner and anthropologist with unprecedented access

Political instability, poverty, climate change, and the insatiable appetite for cheap labor all fuel clandestine movement across borders. As those borders harden, the demand for smugglers who aid migrants across them increases every year. Yet the real lives and work of smugglers—or coyotes, or guides, as they are often known by the migrants who hire their services—are only ever reported on from a distance, using tired tropes and stereotypes, often depicted as boogie men and violent warlords. In an effort to better understand this essential yet extralegal billion dollar global industry, internationally recognized anthropologist and expert Jason De León embedded with a group of smugglers moving migrants across Mexico over the course of seven years.

The result of this unique and extraordinary access is SOLDIERS AND KINGS: the first ever in-depth, character-driven look at human smuggling. It is a heart-wrenching and intimate narrative that revolves around the life and death of one coyote who falls in love and tries to leave smuggling behind. In a powerful, original voice, De León expertly chronicles the lives of low-level foot soldiers breaking into the smuggling game, and morally conflicted gang leaders who oversee rag-tag crews of guides and informants along the migrant trail. SOLDIERS AND KINGS is not only a ground-breaking up-close glimpse of a difficult-to-access world, it is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction.

©2024 Jason De León (P)2024 Penguin Audio Emigration & Immigration Politics & Government Public Policy Social Sciences Latin America Royalty Solider

Critic reviews

Orange County Register's "20 Highly Anticipated Books Coming in 2024 We Want to Read"

For seven years, de León tracked the lives of both migrants crossing the border and the coyotes who shepherded them. He unveils a profoundly intimate account of their world—of the work, the terror, and the human connections made on their treacherous journeys. A National Book Award finalist, Soldiers and Kings seeks to buck the dangerous stereotypes that are often associated with migrants and smugglers, and instead, shows their fully nuanced stories.—Time’s “100 Must Read Books of 2024”

“A unique read that emerges from seven years of research and firsthand experiences lived by the author amidst smugglers, or ‘guías,’ on the U.S.-Mexico border…De León offers a glimpse into a world rarely seen or understood.”—Los Angeles Times

“A rare inside look at human smuggling on the border … Smuggling, [De León] says, ‘is not the problem.’ But as his own book memorably recounts, in a world with no shortage of problems, it’s nevertheless one of them.”—The New York Times
Compelling Narrative • Compassionate Storytelling • Eye-opening Perspective • Authentic Representation
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Gritty and compelling. I dreamt like I came to know the people in this book. A must read for anyone who wants to understand migration and human smuggling.

Gritty and raw

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Perhaps we need a bit less data and more detailed anthropological depictions of other human beings’ suffering to really understand social issues. This book does that. It brought tears to my eyes and changed my vision.

Astonishing and moving

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Beautifully presented story about a very timely topic, told with compassion. Well researched and consciousness raising.

Non-fiction that readslike a novel

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I enjoyed this deep dive into the culture and backstories of today’s smugglers of human beings from Central America to the US border. Overly long dialog, paragraphs, of supposed perspectives expressed by his research subjects, seemed a bit contrived to me. Did the author record these conversations in full and translate them vs re-create them from memory. I became impatient listening to these sections . Nonetheless the author painted vivid pictures of these characters’ idiosyncrasies as well as the brutal and violent childhood histories that launched their career paths.

Vivid characters with tragic backstories.

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Chronicles the passage of those who make passage (the coyotes) for migrants (mostly Catrachos). Helps explain why people leave, what the suffer and how these ‘guías’ are so key.

Humanizes our neighbors to the south when it would be easy to just listen to myopic and over simplified news bites!

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I devoured this book in three days. When I want my dog to take medicine, I will often wrap the pill in a piece of meat. Jason de Leon has essentially done this by grounding his ethnographic theoretical framework in a compelling narrative on the forces and social constructs that shape coyotes. You almost forget that it is an academic work at its core. It would be easiest just to say human smugglers are bad and call it a day, but de Leon provides a thoughtful and disturbing portrait of human smugglers and the circumstances shaping them. Like Oliver Twist who was shaped by an ugly society and the Industrial Revolution, guias are simultaneously victims and criminals taking what agency and control they can muster in the face of forces they themselves are struggling to understand. Oliver Twist escaped via the conventions of a fictional world, Kingston, Flaco, and Chino don't have that luxury and for that reason, you should spend a little time getting to know them. We all have some complicity in these forces. Jason de Leon rocks as the narrator especially since the text incorporates a lot of Spanish slang which requires some deftness.

Important Work on Human Smugglers

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Eye opening book on what migrants have to go through in search of a better life.

You must read this book!

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This is a very unique and very well written book. This provides a much needed voice to a very complex issue. Kudos to the author for having the courage to do the research and heart to writing this book.

Outstanding

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That’s really it. The subject is important and the narrative is compelling, but sometimes feels too narrative for a research based book. De Leon includes a lot of stuff about his own life which may not all be necessary but it provides inter subjective context.

Good, a little self indulgent

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This is a world unfamiliar to me. I felt like I was sitting on Jason’s shoulder from the start until the end. The insights have certainly helped me to have greater understanding of another world that is just as real as my privileged world. It reminded me that you cannot know someone’s story by just looking at them. I’m a better person because of this book.

The knowledge gained. WOW!

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