War Dogs: The True Story of How Three Stoners From Miami Beach Became the Most Unlikely Gunrunners in History - Softcover

"Like the best stories about rogues, con artists and scammers, the magic is in the details. Guy Lawson's, Arms and Dudes, misses nothing. He gets it all."--Nick Pileggi, author of Wiseguy

"This is one of those books that, God help us, shouldn't be true--but is. US governmental bungling, war in Afghanistan going awry, foreign hustlers making millions out of bilking heroic soldiers, and in the middle of it all are two barely post-teenager dopers fumbling their way into and out of the highest level of the sleazy arms business. Guy Lawson tells the disturbing story brilliantly. You'll cringe, you'll want to look away (a lot), but you won't be able to stop turning the pages."--Jeff Guinn, author of Manson

"Guy Lawson's Arms and the Dudes is a triumph of investigative reporting and storytelling. This book is a mind-blowing account of how two kids turned themselves into some of the world's biggest weapons dealers in the chaotic years of the Iraq war. I couldn't put it down. If it were on the fiction shelf, the rollicking, riveting tale told within these pages would seem wildly implausible. But it's not."--Rajiv Chandrasekaran, author of Imperial Life in the Emerald City and Little America

"This improbable true story tracks three South Florida slackers as they navigate the dangerous world of international arms dealers while ripping off the U.S. Department of Defense for a cool $300 million. It's the perfect beach reading for smart fathers everywhere."--Esquire.com

"Lawson's eye for detail and research are commendable...details the backroom machinations, corruption, red tape, and intrigue that go along with high-stakes arms deals."--Publishers Weekly

"[A] rollicking yarn...An eye-opener and an excellent job of reporting and writing."--Kirkus Reviews

"A wildly entertaining saga with dual narratives. The first involves blackmail, criminals, hustlers, corrupt government officials, and three kids in way over their heads. The other, and for Lawson more important, side of the story, concerns how the Pentagon came to use private contractors like the dudes as proxies--and eventual fall guys--to secure weapons from gray market arms dealers, the only people who could supply what it needed."--MotherJones.com

"Extraordinary--a hell of a read."--The New York Daily News

"It's a phenomenal book...I couldn't put it down."--HuffPost Live

"Fascinating...the reporting is incredible."--MSNBC's "The Cycle"

Reveals the behind-the-headlines story of how three young stoners from Florida won a $300 million Department of Defense contract through which they supplied poor-grade ammunition to the Afghanistan military before being "caught" by Pentagon investigators.