{"product_id":"the-taken-true-stories-of-the-sinaloa-drug-war-9780806155760","title":"The Taken: True Stories of the Sinaloa Drug War","description":"\u003cp\u003eA massive wave of violence has rippled across Mexico over the past decade. In the western state of Sinaloa, the birthplace of modern drug trafficking, ordinary citizens live in constant fear of being \"taken\"--kidnapped or held against their will by armed men, whether criminals, police, or both. This remarkable collection of firsthand accounts by prize-winning journalist Javier Valdez C rdenas provides a uniquely human perspective on life in Sinaloa during the drug war.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e The reality of the Mexican drug war, a conflict fueled by uncertainty and fear, is far more complex than the images conjured in popular imagination. Often missing from news reports is the perspective of ordinary people--migrant workers, schoolteachers, single mothers, businessmen, teenagers, petty criminals, police officers, and local journalists--people whose worlds center not on drugs or illegal activity but on survival and resilience, truth and reconciliation. Building on a rich tradition of testimonial literature, Valdez C rdenas recounts in gripping detail how people deal not only with the constant threat of physical violence but also with the fear, uncertainty, and guilt that afflict survivors and witnesses.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Mexican journalists who dare expose the drug war's inconvenient political and social realities are censored and smeared, murdered, and \"disappeared.\" This is precisely why we need to hear from seasoned local reporters like Valdez C rdenas who write about the places where they live, rely on a network of trusted sources built over decades, and tell the stories behind the headline-grabbing massacres and scandals.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e In his informative introduction to the volume, translator Everard Meade orients the reader to the broader armed conflict in Mexico and explains the unique role of Sinaloa as its epicenter. Reports on border politics and infamous drug traffickers may obscure the victims' suffering. \u003cem\u003eThe Taken\u003c\/em\u003e helps ensure that their stories will not be forgotten or suppressed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMeade, Everard:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cb\u003eEverard Meade\u003c\/b\u003e is Director of the Trans-Border Institute at the University of San Diego's Kroc School of Peace Studies and its certificate programs in Applied Peace Education in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico.","brand":"University of Oklahoma Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50328529010962,"sku":"9780806155760","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_5b5ab866-d6b5-4d5c-aae9-1abedb073b4a.jpg?v=1727743516","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-taken-true-stories-of-the-sinaloa-drug-war-9780806155760","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}