San Pedro is Bolivia's most notorious prison. Small-time drug smuggler Thomas McFadden found himself on the inside. Marching Powder is the story of how he navigated this dark world of gangs, drugs and corruption to come out on top.

Thomas found himself in a bizarre world, the prison reflecting all that is wrong with South American society. Prisoners have to pay an entrance fee and buy their own cells (the alternative is to sleep outside and die of exposure), prisoners' wives and children often live inside too, high quality cocaine is manufactured and sold from the prison.

Thomas ended up making a living by giving backpackers tours of the prison - he became a fixture on the backpacking circuit and was named in the Lonely Planet guide to Bolivia. When he was told that for a bribe of $5000 his sentence could be overturned, it was the many backpackers who'd passed through who sent him the money. Written by lawyer Rusty Young, Marching Powder - sometimes shocking, sometimes funny - is a riveting story of survival.

A gripping, sometimes surreal account of surviving one of the world's craziest and most dangerous prisons.

About the Author
Rusty Young is an Australian lawyer who met Thomas McFadden on a tour of San Pedro. He was so impressed by him that he stayed there (voluntarily) for three months in order to write his story, Marching Powder. Thomas McFadden is now a free man, living in London.

Reviews
All the staples of the prison memoir are here: sadistic guards, an attempted break-out, the terrors of solitary confinement, the joys of freedom . . . The result is a truly gripping piece of testimony. * Sunday Telegraph *
Astonishing real-life story of a Brit drug smuggler banged up in Bolivia's most notorious jail. * FHM *
This exotic, cautionary yarn opens the abyss beneath our wealthy world. * Uncut *



Book Information
ISBN 9781509829408
Author Rusty Young
Format Paperback
Page Count 384
Imprint Pan Books
Publisher Pan Macmillan
Weight(grams) 281g
Dimensions(mm) 197mm * 130mm * 25mm