
Soldiers and Kings
Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling
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Narrated by:
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Jason De León
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By:
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Jason De León
About this listen
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.
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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
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- The Case Against LBJ
- By: Roger Stone
- Narrated by: David Rapkin
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Lyndon Baines Johnson was a man of great ambition and enormous greed, both of which, in 1963, would threaten to destroy him. In the end, President Johnson would use power from his personal connections in Texas and from the underworld and from the government to escape an untimely end in politics and to seize even greater power. President Johnson, the thirty-sixth president of the United States, was the driving force behind a conspiracy to murder President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. In The Man Who Killed Kennedy, you will find out how and why he did it. Political consultant, strategist, and Libertarian Roger Stone has gathered documents and used his firsthand knowledge to construct the ultimate tome to prove that LBJ was not only involved in JFK's assassination, but was in fact the mastermind. With 2013 being the fiftieth anniversary of JFK's assassination, this is the perfect time for The Man Who Killed Kennedy to be available to readers. The research and information in this book is unprecedented, and as Roger Stone lived through it, he's the perfect person to bring it to everyone's attention.
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COMPELLING BOOK - THE CROOKS ARE IN POWER
- By Theo Tsourdalakis on 12-01-13
By: Roger Stone
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Medieval Myths & Mysteries
- By: Dorsey Armstrong, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Dorsey Armstrong
- Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins
- Original Recording
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The 10 enlightening (and often humorous) lectures of Medieval Myths and Mysteries will show you how far from the “dark” times of legend these centuries were. Uncover the facts about the Knights Templar. Reveal the truth behind the tales of legendary creatures like the Questing Beast and the unicorn. Trace the events of the Black Death and the ways it altered the world in its wake, and much more. With Professor Armstrong, you will dig deep into the ways that later generations reshaped the narrative of the medieval years and perpetuated the myths.
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Interesting, but centered on Britain
- By Ximena on 04-10-20
By: Dorsey Armstrong, and others
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Ho Tactics
- How to MindF**k a Man into Spending, Spoiling, and Sponsoring
- By: G. L. Lambert
- Narrated by: Patrick Stevens
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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I have discovered a group of women who refuse to be exploited, are immune to manipulation, and who never settle in the name of love. These ladies know what they want and take what they want by beating men at their own game. Utilizing the secrets exposed in this book, these women gain power, money, and status. Men call them gold diggers, women call them hos, but they call themselves winners. This is the book that society doesn't want you to listen to….
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I spent $24,000 in 4 months
- By B.M. on 10-06-18
By: G. L. Lambert
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My Big TOE: Awakening
- Book One of a Trilogy Unifying Philosophy, Physics, and Metaphysics
- By: Thomas Campbell
- Narrated by: Thomas Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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My Big TOE: Awakening, written by a nuclear physicist in the language of contemporary culture, unifies science and philosophy, physics and metaphysics, mind and matter, purpose and meaning, the normal and the paranormal. The entirety of human experience (mind, body, and spirit) including both our objective and subjective worlds is brought together under one seamless scientific understanding.
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What a Trip (but to where?)
- By Michael on 11-26-13
By: Thomas Campbell
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Fingerprints of the Gods
- The Quest Continues
- By: Graham Hancock
- Narrated by: Graham Hancock
- Length: 18 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Fingerprints of the Gods is the revolutionary rewrite of history that has persuaded millions of listeners throughout the world to change their preconceptions about the history behind modern society. An intellectual detective story, this unique history audiobook directs probing questions at orthodox history, presenting disturbing new evidence that historians have tried - but failed - to explain.
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Classic in Historical Mysteries
- By Kelly on 09-05-19
By: Graham Hancock
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I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t)
- Telling the Truth about Perfectionism, Inadequacy, and Power
- By: Brené Brown
- Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Based on seven years of ground-breaking research and hundreds of interviews, I Thought It Was Just Me shines a long-overdue light on an important truth: Our imperfections are what connect us to each other and to our humanity. Our vulnerabilities are not weaknesses; they are powerful reminders to keep our hearts and minds open to the reality that we're all in this together.
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I'm sure its great if you are a mother ....
- By Leslie A Hill on 08-09-11
By: Brené Brown
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Caffeine
- How Caffeine Created the Modern World
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 2 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
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Michael Pollan, known for his best-selling nonfiction audio, including The Omnivores Dilemma and How to Change Your Mind, conceived and wrote Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World as an Audible Original. In this controversial and exciting listen, Pollan explores caffeine’s power as the most-used drug in the world - and the only one we give to children (in soda pop) as a treat.
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Leaves much to be desired
- By Melody H on 02-02-20
By: Michael Pollan
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Mythology: Mega Collection
- Classic Stories from the Greek, Celtic, Norse, Japanese, Hindu, Chinese, Mesopotamian and Egyptian Mythology
- By: Scott Lewis
- Narrated by: Madison Niederhauser, Oliver Hunt
- Length: 31 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Do you know how many wives Zeus had? Or how the famous Trojan War was caused by one beautiful lady? Or how Thor got his hammer? Give your imagination a real treat. This Mega Mythology Collection of eight audiobooks is for you....
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An interesting set of introductions.
- By Kevin Potter on 05-30-19
By: Scott Lewis
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For all the attempts to understand the state of American politics and the blue/red divide, we've ignored what economic and cultural loss can do to pride. What happens, Arlie Russell Hochschild asks, when a proud people in a hard-hit region suffer the deep loss of pride and are confronted with a powerful political appeal that makes it feel "stolen"? Hochschild's research drew her to Pikeville, Kentucky, in the heart of Appalachia, within the whitest and second-poorest congressional district in the nation.
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interesting conversations
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Cold Crematorium
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József Debreczeni, a prolific Hungarian-language journalist and poet, arrived in Auschwitz in 1944; had he been selected to go “left,” his life expectancy would have been approximately forty-five minutes. One of the “lucky” ones, he was sent to the “right,” which led to twelve horrifying months of incarceration and slave labor in a series of camps, ending in the “Cold Crematorium”—the so-called hospital of the forced labor camp Dörnhau, where prisoners too weak to work awaited execution.
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Learned so much more about the Holocaust
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What listeners say about Soldiers and Kings
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- KBW
- 01-12-25
Vivid characters with tragic backstories.
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.
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- Ivonne Trelles
- 02-21-25
Astonishing and moving
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.
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- Gary
- 01-26-25
Non-fiction that readslike a novel
Beautifully presented story about a very timely topic, told with compassion. Well researched and consciousness raising.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-02-24
Gritty and raw
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.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Myriam Duenas
- 05-09-24
Outstanding
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.
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- Anonymous User
- 12-16-24
Good, a little self indulgent
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.
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-17-24
Honest and enlightening
This book helped me comprehend the reasons why people come to America illegally and struggles they may face in the journey from the southern border.
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3 people found this helpful
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- AStar
- 12-17-24
Learn
I knew nothing. Now I know more. With an open mind I learned. Good listen.
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- Brianna
- 01-30-25
Well written and insightful
This book was written by Jason de Leon, an anthropologist. He writes about his interactions with smugglers involved with moving people from Central America into Mexico enroute to the United States. The author also narrates the audiobook, so you can feel the words and better understand the people he describes. This book is *not* about the migrants. This is about the men that are moving them; not just what happens as they move migrants, but their pasts, and how they became smugglers. The writer does not judge the subjects; that is not the purpose of the book. He does allow you to see them as human beings, not just criminals, not just bad guys that are involved in illegal activities. He humanizes the smugglers, even becomes friends with some of them, while observing and recording their lives. He opens a window into a world that we can only imagine, and he does it with compassion. He does not try to paint them as good guys or bad guys. The men he writes about are involved in human smuggling for one reason or another, but they are all balancing on a very dangerous precipice. Some manage to get out; most do not. I strongly recommend this book.
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- Shane
- 12-02-24
Important Work on Human Smugglers
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.
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