Small Wars Journal

El Centro Reading List

SWJ El Centro eBooks

Los Caballeros Templarios de Michoacán: Imagery, Symbolism, and Narratives provides in depth analysis—derived from a unique fusion of organized crime, insurgency (criminal and spiritual), and religious (and magico-religious) studies expertise—of a Mexican cartel that utilized Knights Templar archetypes. The 279 page work represents the first in the SWJ El Centro eBook series of publications.  — Robert J. Bunker and Alma Keshavarz, Editors.

 

Templarios eBook Cover

 

References

This is a temporary list, pending the launch of our revised Library section.

These books may be of interest to you. They are broken out by English & Spanish.

English

El Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency by Ioan Grillo

Mexico: Narco-Violence and a Failed State?  by George W. Grayson

Narcos Over the Border: Gangs, Cartels and Mercenaries edited by Robert J. Bunker

Criminal-States and Criminal-Soldiers edited by Robert J. Bunker

The Transformation of War: The Most Radical Reinterpretation of Armed Conflict Since Clausewitz by Martin van Creveld

The Last Narco: Inside the Hunt for El Chapo, the World's Most-Wanted Drug Lord by Malcolm Beith

Drug Lord: The Life & Death of a Mexican Kingpin-A True Story by Terrence E. Poppa

The Bullet or the Bribe: Taking Down Colombia's Cali Drug Cartel by Ronald Chepesiuk

Drug Wars: Narco Warfare in the 21st Century by Gary "Rusty" Fleming

Cartel: The Coming Invasion of Mexico's Drug Wars by Sylvia Longmire

Drug Politics: Dirty Money and Democracies by David C. Jordan

Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw by Mark Bowden

The Andean Cocaine Industry by Patrick Clawson and Rensselaer W. Lee

Kings of Cocaine Inside the Medellin Cartel an Astonishing True Story of Murder Money and International Corruption by Guy Gugliotta and Jeff Leen

The Accountant's Story: Inside the Violent World of the Medellín Cartel by Roberto Escobar

Sea of Grass: The Maritime Drug War 1970-1990 by Charles M. Fuss, Jr.

Drugs and Conflict in Colombia: A Policy Analysis of Plan Colombia by Charles Preston

Hostage Nation: Colombia's Guerrilla Army and the Failed War on Drugs by Victoria Bruce, et al.

Drugs and Democracy in Rio de Janeiro: Trafficking, Social Networks, and Public Security by Enrique Desmond Arias

Megacities: The Politics of Urban Exclusion and Violence in the Global South edited by Kees Konnings and Dirk Kruijt

More Terrible Than Death: Drugs, Violence, and America's War in Colombia by Robin Kirk

Drug Trafficking in the Americas edited by Bruce M. Bagley and William O. Walker

Smoke and Mirrors: The War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure by Dan Baum

Colombia and the United States: War, Unrest, and Destabilization by Mario A. Murillo

Illicit Trafficking: A Reference Handbook by Robert J. Kelly et al.

Illicit Flows and Criminal Things: States, Borders, and the Other Side of Globalization edited by Willem van Schendel and Itty Abraham

Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers, and Copycats are Hijacking the Global Economy by Moises Naim

Policing the Globe: Criminalization and Crime Control in International Relations by Peter Andreas  and Ethan Nadelmann

Dark Logic: Transnational Criminal Tactics and Global Security by Robert Mandel

McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld by Misha Glenny

Global Outlaws: Crime, Money, and Power in the Contemporary World by Carolyn Nordstrom

Sex, Drugs, and Body Counts: The Politics of Numbers in Global Crime and Conflict edited by Peter Andreas, Ed. Kelly M. Greenhill

Drugs and Contemporary Warfare by Paul Rexton Kan

Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy by John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt

Insurgency, Terrorism, and Crime: Shadows from the Past and Portents for the Future by Max G. Manwaring

Gangs, Pseudo-Militaries, and Other Modern Mercenaries: New Dynamics in Uncomfortable Wars by Max G. Manwaring

Planet of Slums by Mike Davis

A World of Gangs: Armed Young Men and Gangsta Culture by John M. Hagedorn

Gangs in the Global City: Alternatives to Traditional Criminology edited by John M. Hagedorn

The Gangs of Los Angeles by William Dunn

This Is for the Mara Salvatrucha: Inside the MS-13, America's Most Violent Gang by Samuel Logan

Shooting Up: Counterinsurgency and the War on Drugs by Vanda Felbab-Brown

The Border: Exploring the U.S.-Mexican Divide by David Danelo

Amexica: War Along the Borderline by Ed Vulliamy

Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns, and Guerrillas by Elijah Wald

The Three U.S.-Mexico Border Wars: Drugs, Immigration, and Homeland Security by Tony Payan

The Reaper's Line: Life and Death on the Mexican Border by Lee Morgan III

No Boundaries: Transnational Latino Gangs and American Law Enforcement by Tom Diaz

Border Games: Policing the U.S.-Mexico Divide by Peter Andreas

The Killing Fields: Harvest of Women by Diana Washington Valdez

The Daughters of Juarez: A True Story of Serial Murder South of the Border by Teresa Rodriguez et al.

Drug War Zone: Frontline Dispatches from the Streets of El Paso and Juárez by Howard Campbell

Santa Muerte: Mexico's Mysterious Saint of Death by Tony Kail

Magico-Religious Groups and Ritualistic Activities: A Guide for First Responders by Tony M. Kail

Across the Border: True Story of Satanic Cult Killings in Matamoros, Mexico by Gary Provost

Folk Saints of the Borderlands: Victims, Bandits, and Healers by James S. Griffith

Murder City: Ciudad Juarez and the Global Economy's New Killing Fields by Charles Bowden

The Mexican Mafia by Tony Rafael

Urban Street Terrorism : A Study Guide About the Violent Prison and Street Gang Subcultures of The Mexican Mafia and Its Army of Soldiers: Los Sureños by Rene Enriquez and Al Valdez

The Black Hand: The Story of Rene "Boxer" Enriquez and His Life in the Mexican Mafia by Chris Blatchford

Spanish

El México Narco by Rafael Rodríguez Castañeda

México: ¿Rumbo al Estado Fallido? by José Antonio Ortega Sánchez

De los Maras a los Zetas by Jorge Fernández Menédez y Víctor Ronquillo

Los Señores del Narco by Anabel Hernández

El Cartel De Sinaloa by Diego Enrique Osorno

El Cartel: Los Arellano Felix by Jesús Blancornelas

El Cartel de los Sapos bt Andrés López López

El Cartel de los Sapos2 by Andrés López López