Thank you to netgalley and Penguin Group Viking for providing a free copy of Soldiers and Kings. I have been looking forward to its publication after having read Jason De León’s brilliant anthropological study The Land of Open Graves.

Soldiers and Kings reminds me a bit of Óscar Martínez' excellent description of life on the migrant trail in The Beast; yet, Martínez is a journalist and focused on the plight of migrants during their harrowing journey through Mexico, while Mr. De León, an anthropologist, set out to examine the smugglers, those much-maligned guides who lead the Central American migrants Martínez describes through Mexico and into the United States. Mr. De León's goal was to show the human side of those low-level smugglers (also called guías or polleros), and, in my opinion, he very much succeeded. He highlighted the complexities of migrant smuggling, a world where nothing is ever black and white, least of all the very natures of smugglers like Chino, Flaco, Kingston, and their brethren. Their stories make it quite clear that smugglers do not CAUSE migrants to cross borders illegally; they simply, opportunistically, seize a business opportunity that presents itself. And like in every business, there are those who just try to make ends meet themselves and others who profit greatly. Like human beings in general, some of these smugglers are callous and greedy (and allow migrants to perish in an overheated van) and others retain some compassion and humanity. Mr. DeLeón says it best in his epilogue:
"Like undocumented migration in general, human smuggling is not a problem to be solved in a vacuum, and given all that I know now, I am convinced it can never be stopped. Desperate people will forever seek places of refuge where they and their loved ones can thrive and feel safe. As long as there are locations in the world where people face the choice to either watch their children die or flee with them to higher ground, there will always be a ferryman willing to take them across a geopolitical boundary for a price."

Soldiers and Kings is written with compassion and humanity and a great addition to the migrant literature.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Penguin Group Viking for an advance copy of this book that takes a look at the lives of those who are caught between their homes and the promised land. A home that has become too dangerous, and a promised land that has made everything political, and of course, money.

This is a mean old world, and as becoming pretty apparant to many, a dying old world. The weather is changing, growing seasons are becoming scarcer, and governments are showing their usual long term planning, by not doing anything. A lot of the world will be on the move soon, not to steal our jobs, or replace fragile people, but for food. For water. The world is seeing this already. Governments either throw money in programs to arrest people, or programs to bar people. However getting people over borders is big money. Though from the stories one hears in this book, not as much as one might think. And definitely not worth the risk. Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling by Jason De León is a look at the people who are involved in getting people over borders. De León has embedded himself in their world, their lives and their concerns and tells their stories, and the lives of others trapped in a system that seems doomed to fail, and destroy many in the process.

The book begins with a look at De León live, from being an army brat, soon to be a child of divorce, his interest in talking to people, and how he used his past and skills to become an anthropologist. From there we start to meet some of the people involved in the world of human smuggling. Cops being paid as part of American plan to arrest people planning to leave Honduras, though they are usually with good reasons. To boys who come from big families, but small futures, who try to get out, but find a more lucrative role in guiding others over the border. De León talks about live in the border towns, where cops are just as bad as gangs, shaking down people for every last cent, or even worse. De León gains their trust in various ways, but mostly by listening and caring. And raging at what these people have to deal with.

I have read a few books about life on the border, but nothing really prepared me for what I was going to learn here. De León is a really good writer, and a fine listener, picking up bits here and there, and putting it al together. There are some really good moments, a person crosses the border, lives in a tree, but gets picked up in a 7-11. People being returned to their home countries, and returning to Mexico in less than a week. A tattoo parlor where a man gets the names of his children, children who live in his heart, and now on his flesh. Even female smugglers, just as tough as the men, with stories that are sad and horrible. De León's writing is observational, but the American political system comes in for some savage treatment, as well as it should be. Treks through deserts, as this is where the Border Patrol forces people to cross. Police shakedowns. Political fear of acting. This is a very good, very powerful book that really should be discussed. Though so truthful and real, I doubt most media would want to take the chance. I learned quite a bit, some I wish I never knew, and I thank Mr. De León for this book.