On the advice of a friend who knows one of the "Cast Of Characters" (a "Yank In The Bank"), I ordered a used copy of this long out of print book. What an eye opener. It's amazing what a group of "former" senior military officers and spooks can get up to when allowed to run amok overseas. You name it and they got away with it. Even though some of the principals are dead, nobody has been held accountable for the myriad of crimes that have occurred abroad. With the lack of support rendered by the U.S. government (especially the F.B.I.), it makes one wonder how "former" some of the players really were. It's amazing how many of these same people reared their ugly heads years later during "Iran-Contra". Read the book and then decide for yourself.

As an Australian I was both surprised and gratified that an American journalist should want to trace the extraordinary history of the Nugan Hand Bank's Australian operations. This great document decribes the most cut-throat, heroin dealing, crime syndicate ever to have sullied our shores, and all under the covert auspices of the C.I.A. Kwitny's research is exhaustive and his even handed way of presenting his findings is exemplary of fine journalism. The implications hatched in this veritable can of worms will have net-sleuths busy for years tracing the myriad references to the numerous associates of Nugan Hand who vanished into the night only to surface again in the Irangate scandal. Essential reading for anyone trying to come to terms with the scourge of heroin, the world arms trade and those members of the U.S.'s covert agencies that spread misery in their own and other countries...Read it if you dare!

Is that this is out-of-print and I am the first reviewer of it.

Written by a Libertarian stalwart, the late Wall Street Journal reporter Jonathan Kwitny, it contains detailed history of US foreign commitments, especially in the early 1980s.

That even from a laissez-faire perspective American foreign policy is both misguided and criminal did not sit well with our corporatist media.

If you read and memorize the history in this book you will automatically gain 25 IQ points in any discussion of world events. Astound your friends, who will nickname you "commie," "creepy" and "that person who thinks too much."

Although this book is over 15 years old, everything it states still seems to stand to be true- Which only shows as a Country how much we aren't changing in the areas we should be. I was very impressed with this book, the knowledge and the variety of views. Great reading, and grab your highlighter!!

I read this book for the first time in the late 1970's and wanted to read further about the case when I finished it. The ONLY information I found in my library were the two articles from the Wall Street Journal, which prompted the book in the first place.

I found the book to be reliable and a most interesting read, considering the murder has never been solved. When I discussed it with a friend from Caney, Kansas, he told me he was well acquainted with the case and its principals and was unequivocal regarding the identity of the murderer. Apparently it is common knowledge in that town (his opinion dovetails with mine, by the way). Once you read the book, you should have no doubt in your mind regarding the name of the killer. But, one wonders why the Mullendores themselves from that day to this seem to have no interest in bringing him to justice.

This is fascinating stuff, well written and well researched.

I LIVE IN THE SAME COUNTY WHERE THIS MURDER HAPPENED. AS I READ THE BOOK IT FOLLOWS THE TALES THAT I'VE HEARD WHILE GROWING UP HERE. THE PEOPLE IN THIS BOOK STILL LIVE IN THE AREA. VERY GOOD READING, AND IT KEEPS YOU THINKING.

I have read this book and found it to be incredibly true since I personally know everyone in the book as my father grew up right next to the Mullendore ranch. Several of my relatives are listed in the book and were employees at the time of the murder. The people who think the Mullendores are nice people have never met them. If you drive through their ranch today you will see men on horseback with rifles following your movement.

This is, for anybody Catholic or non-Catholic who is interested in the Pope, a good read. But the book is flawed by a full jar of political intrigue. I would buy it, but for the story of the man, not the story of the CIA files on him.

Pope John Paul caught the world's attention with his work to end communism in Central Europe. I am not a Catholic, but I have the utmost regard for what this man has accomplished. The title of this book gives away the author's regard for him also. The Americans give credit for the fall of communism to former Presidents Reagan and Gorbachev, especially in the video series 'Biography of the Millennium' done by A&E, but without the Pope's knowledge of the Central Europeans it would have just been a dream of theirs. I read this book with a great deal of relief that it had been published during the Pope's lifetime. He would probably regard the historical oversight of his work with less frustration than many of his supporters.

This book, which uses the subject's life as a framework for reviewing events and political philosophies leading up to the millenium, has much to recommend it to the general reader..... One need not be intimidated by its size and scope; it's extremely readable and consistently fascinating. As a non-Catholic, I was surprised to learn how very complex and interesting this man Wojtyla is, and, like the movie "Titanic", the inside story of Poland's liberation is exciting, even though one pretty much already knows how it's going to turn out!.... I was also intrigued by the material in the book detailing the origins of the Pope's unpopular views on women and sex, and by the author's discussion of methods used by John Paul II in his struggle against Soviet tyranny as contrasted to those employed by our own government..... While I don't know whether I believe Kwitny's conclusions about the irresistible force of high moral courage -- will the Pope's methods work for the Dalai Lama against the Red Chinese without Star Wars waiting in the wings?? -- I certainly want to believe them, and the evidence marshalled in Man of the Century is both convincing and inspiring.

I read this book almost 15 years ago when I first started as a new U.S. Probation Officer. I had been assigned to the Special Offender Unit in the Southern District of Florida. Kwitny's book about white collar criminals not only opened my eyes to the damage such individuals do, but provided me with a better insight to understanding similar individuals I was to supervise. Anyone who wishes to have a deeper understanding of the unique mind-set of these offenders need to read this book. I will be ordering a new copy, as the copy I read so many years ago is gone. The lessons that one can learn about how these individuals operated (and still do) are still valuable today as they were in 1985. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to better understand this level of criminal activity and especially to law enforcement people dealing in financial crimes. The methods may have become more sophisticated, but the mindset of the criminal does not.