BIBLIO is the largest independent book marketplace in the world, with over 100 million books.

Skip to content

Dark Alliance: Movie Tie-In Edition: The Cia, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine
Stock photo: cover may vary

Dark Alliance: Movie Tie-In Edition: The Cia, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion Paperback - 2014

by Gary Webb; Foreword by Maxine Waters

Add to wish list

Reader reviews for Dark Alliance: Movie Tie-In Edition: The Cia, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion

Write a review for this book

There are no reviews for this book yet. Be the first to write a review!

Your review will be anonymous unless you login or create an account first.

Overall rating
Remember: You’re rating the book as a work, not the seller or the condition of the specific copy you purchased!

Important Terms and Guidelines

  • Please focus on the book’s content and context. Also, add any personal comments as to how you enjoyed the book. Substantiate your likes and dislikes. You may make comparisons to other books.
  • Reviews must be at least 140 characters in length.
  • Please do not reveal critical plot elements.
  • This is not a help line. Contact customer support if you need help.
Your review must not include:
  • Obscenities, discriminatory language, or other insulting language not suitable for public domain
  • Advertisements, “spam” content, or references to other products, offers or websites.
  • Email addresses, URLs, phone numbers, physical addresses or other contact information.
  • Overly critical comments about other reviews or reviewers
  • Time-sensitive material (i.e. promotional tours, seminars, lectures, etc.)
  • Availability, price, or alternative ordering/shipping information

From the publisher

Major Motion Picture based on Dark Alliance and starring Jeremy Renner, "Kill the Messenger," to be be released in Fall 2014

In August 1996, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb stunned the world with a series of articles in the San Jose Mercury News reporting the results of his year-long investigation into the roots of the crack cocaine epidemic in America, specifically in Los Angeles. The series, titled "Dark Alliance," revealed that for the better part of a decade, a Bay Area drug ring sold tons of cocaine to Los Angeles street gangs and funneled millions in drug profits to the CIA-backed Nicaraguan Contras.

Gary Webb pushed his investigation even further in his book, Dark Alliance: The CIA, The Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Drawing from then newly declassified documents, undercover DEA audio and videotapes that had never been publicly released, federal court testimony, and interviews, Webb demonstrates how our government knowingly allowed massive amounts of drugs and money to change hands at the expense of our communities.

Webb's own stranger-than-fiction experience is also woven into the book. His excoriation by the media--not because of any wrongdoing on his part, but by an insidious process of innuendo and suggestion that in effect blamed Webb for the implications of the story--had been all but predicted. Webb was warned off doing a CIA expose by a former Associated Press journalist who lost his job when, years before, he had stumbled onto the germ of the "Dark Alliance" story. And though Internal investigations by both the CIA and the Justice Department eventually vindicated Webb, he had by then been pushed out of the Mercury News and gone to work for the California State Legislature Task Force on Government Oversight. He died in 2004.

Details

  • Title Dark Alliance: Movie Tie-In Edition: The Cia, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion
  • Author Gary Webb; Foreword by Maxine Waters
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reprint
  • Pages 592
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Seven Stories Press
  • Publication date 2014-09-30
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Features Bibliography, Glossary, Illustrated, Index, Movie/TV Tie-In, Price on Product - Canadian, Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9781609806217 / 1609806212
  • Weight 1.19 lbs (0.54 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.2 x 5.65 x 1.6 in (20.83 x 14.35 x 4.06 cm)
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 20th Century
  • Category Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy
  • Library of Congress subjects United States, Counterrevolutionaries - Nicaragua
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 2014497277
  • Dewey Decimal Code 363.450

Media reviews

"…a densely researched, passionately argued, acronym-laden 548-page volume." —Michael Massing, The Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review

"I find his argument to be very well documented, very careful and very convincing. In fact, the readability of the book suffers a bit from what seems to have been a fear that if he didn't include absolutely every bit of evidence he had unearthed, he would open himself up to new criticisms of inadequate reporting—but this editor's quibble shouldn't stop anyone from buying and reading Dark Alliance. Long-time followers of the contra tale are likely to find new revelations in the book…" —Jo Ann Kawell, The Nation

About the author

An award-winning investigative reporter, GARY WEBB (1955-2004) is best known for his "Dark Alliance" series that linked a Northern California drug ring with the CIA and the United States' burgeoning crack epidemic. When the story first appeared in 1996 on the website of the San Jose Mercury News, it became an unprecedented internet sensation, receiving up to 1.3 million hits daily. The report was the target of a famously vicious media backlash that ended his career as a mainstream journalist. When Webb told the whole story in the book Dark Alliance, some of the same publications that had vilified him retracted their criticism and praised his courage in telling the truth about one of the worst official abuses in our nation's history. Others, including his own former newspaper and the New York Times, continued to treat him as an outlaw. Before joining the Mercury News, Webb cut his journalism teeth at the Kentucky Post and Cleveland Plain Dealer. He is the co-recipient of an Investigative Reporters and Editors Award (for a story at the Post about links between the Kentucky coal mining industry and organized crime) and a Pulitzer Prize (as part of a team at the Mercury News covering the 1988 San Francisco Earthquake). Dark Alliance won the 1998 Firecracker Alternative Book Award in the Politics category, and was a finalist for the PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award. In 2014 Webb's story was adapted into the major motion picture Kill the Messenger. His death in 2004 was ruled a suicide.

Back to top↑

More Copies for Sale

Show all copies
Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion

Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion

by Webb, Gary/ Waters, Maxine (Foreward By)

  • New
  • Paperback
Condition
New
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781609806217 / 1609806212
Quantity available
1
Seller
Revaluation Books
Item price
A$27.15
A$28.66 Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Seven Stories Pr, 2014. Paperback. New. reprint edition. 574 pages. 8.25x5.50x1.50 inches.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$27.15
A$28.66 Delivery to USA
Dark Alliance: Movie Tie-In Edition: The CIA, the Contras, and the Cocaine Explosion
Stock photo: cover may vary

Dark Alliance: Movie Tie-In Edition: The CIA, the Contras, and the Cocaine Explosion

by Webb, Gary

  • Used
  • Good
  • Paperback
Condition
Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781609806217 / 1609806212
Quantity available
1
Seller
Schwabe Books
Item price
A$22.75
A$7.20 Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Seven Stories Press, 2014-09-30. Paperback. Good. 1.7000 8.1000 5.5000.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$22.75
A$7.20 Delivery to USA
Dark Alliance: Movie Tie-In Edition: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion

Dark Alliance: Movie Tie-In Edition: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion

by Gary Webb

  • New
  • Paperback
Condition
New
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781609806217 / 1609806212
Quantity available
5
Seller
The Saint Bookstore
Biblio Top Seller
Item price
A$32.38
A$19.01 Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Paperback / softback. New.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$32.38
A$19.01 Delivery to USA
Dark Alliance
Stock photo: cover may vary

Dark Alliance

by Webb, Gary,

  • New
Condition
New
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781609806217 / 1609806212
Quantity available
4
Seller
GreatBookPrices
Item price
A$24.65
A$5.76 Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
new.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$24.65
A$5.76 Delivery to USA
Dark Alliance
Stock photo: cover may vary

Dark Alliance

by Webb, Gary,

  • Used
Condition
New
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781609806217 / 1609806212
Quantity available
4
Seller
GreatBookPrices
Item price
A$24.65
A$5.76 Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
like new.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$24.65
A$5.76 Delivery to USA
Dark Alliance: Movie Tie-In Edition: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion
Stock photo: cover may vary

Dark Alliance: Movie Tie-In Edition: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion

by Webb, Gary

  • Used
  • Paperback
Condition
Used
Edition
Media tie-in
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781609806217 / 1609806212
Quantity available
1
Seller
Ergodebooks
Item price
A$35.72
Free Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Seven Stories Press, 2014-09-30. Media tie-in. paperback. Used: Good. 5.50x1.58x8.17. Buy with confidence. Excellent Customer Service & Return policy.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$35.72
Free Delivery to USA
Dark Alliance: Movie Tie-In Edition: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion
Stock photo: cover may vary

Dark Alliance: Movie Tie-In Edition: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion

by Webb, Gary; Waters, Maxine

  • New
  • Paperback
Condition
New
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781609806217 / 1609806212
Quantity available
1
Seller
Massive Bookshop
Biblio Top Seller
Item price
A$38.91
A$7.22 Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Seven Stories Press, 2014 Book. New. Paperback.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$38.91
A$7.22 Delivery to USA
Dark Alliance: Movie Tie-In Edition: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion
Stock photo: cover may vary

Dark Alliance: Movie Tie-In Edition: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion

by Webb, Gary

  • New
  • Paperback
Condition
New
Edition
Media tie-in
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781609806217 / 1609806212
Quantity available
6
Seller
Ergodebooks
Item price
A$41.81
Free Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Seven Stories Press, 2014-09-30. Media tie-in. paperback. New. 5.50x1.58x8.17. Buy with confidence. Excellent Customer Service & Return policy.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$41.81
Free Delivery to USA
Dark Alliance: Movie Tie-In Edition: The CIA, the Contras,...
Stock photo: cover may vary

Dark Alliance: Movie Tie-In Edition: The CIA, the Contras,...

by Gary Webb

  • New
Condition
New
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781609806217 / 1609806212
Quantity available
3
Seller
Cold Books
Item price
A$48.22
A$5.76 Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Seven Stories Press , . Papeback. New.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$48.22
A$5.76 Delivery to USA
Dark Alliance: Movie Tie-In Edition: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion
Stock photo: cover may vary

Dark Alliance: Movie Tie-In Edition: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion

by Webb, Gary

  • Used
  • Good
  • Paperback
Condition
Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781609806217 / 1609806212
Quantity available
1
Seller
Bonita
Item price
A$67.15
Free Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
paperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$67.15
Free Delivery to USA
Show all copies
Back to top↑

Please wait a moment while we load the requested page.