“Soldiers and Kings” is not only a ground-breaking up-close glimpse of a difficult-to-access world, it is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction.

The book by Jason De Leon is a look at the people who are involved in getting people over borders. 

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

De Leon 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.

De Leon’s “goal was to show the human side of those low-level smugglers, and, he very much succeeded,” said a review on Goodreads.com.

“He highlighted the complexities of migrant smuggling, a world where nothing is ever black and white, least of all the very natures of smugglers,” said the review.

The smugglers De Leon talks to have certain things in common, including experiences with crushing poverty and horrific violence.