Jason De León

Soldiers and Kings

National Book Award Winner for Nonfiction 2024.

Reviews of Soldiers and Kings

100 Notable Books of 2024 by The New York Times

Listed in NPR’s Books We Love 2024

Named one of the the 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 by Time

Named one of Time’s 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2024

Named of the 75 Best Books of 2024 by the Boston Globe

Orange County Register‘s “20 Highly Anticipated Books Coming in 2024 We Want to Read”

“‘A unique read that emerges from seven years of research and firsthand experiences lived by the author amidst smugglers, or ‘guías,’ on the U.S.-Mexico border…De León offers a glimpse into a world rarely seen or understood.”—Los Angeles Times

“A rare inside look at human smuggling on the border … Smuggling, [De León] says, ‘is not the problem.’ But as his own book memorably recounts, in a world with no shortage of problems, it’s nevertheless one of them.” —New York Times

“Anthropologist and MacArthur fellow De León offers a staggering view of the people who help move asylum seekers. His conversations with participants in a vast migration put human faces to a shadowy concept, and his story is illuminating and often heartrending in its telling.”—Booklist

“A harrowing account of the work of human smugglers in bringing aspirational immigrants to America’s southern border…[and] an exemplary ethnography of central importance to any discussion of immigration policy or reform.”—Kirkus *Starred Review*

“UCLA anthropology professor De León embedded with a group of coyotes, or migrant guides, over the course of several years to study the people behind the industry of human smuggling. His book seeks to dispel stereotypes about those involved with moving migrants across Mexico.”—Orange County Register

“This is a real one. A work of extraordinary reportage and compassion, Soldiers and Kings takes us deep inside the lives of smugglers guiding desperate migrants across Latin America. One breathtaking scene follows another, rendered in vibrant, unsparing prose documenting grinding poverty and violence, but also young love and redemption. It will shock you, move you, and leave you changed.”
—Matthew Desmond, Pulitzer Prize-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Evicted and Poverty, by America
 
“A terrifying journey alongside men who have given up being men and are transformed into “ghosts or demons or dust.” De León, our guia, documents their inter-generational tragedies with full complexity. This book ultimately leads one to question what it means to be human, and, as such, to examine what one’s own responsibility is to this global issue.  An enlightening, frightening, unforgettable read.”
—Sandra Cisneros, bestselling author of The House on Mango Street

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