Grass

by Martin King

In 1970, Sparrowhawk staked his entire capital on Nijinsky in the Epsom Derby - and won. With his large capital base he was able to launch a business importing clothing into the UK. Life was sweet. Phil enjoyed living it up as a young business tycoon, but one day in the mid-1970s his brother introduced him to a hippy student friend and life would never bee the same. Enter Howard Marks. Marks was enthused by Phil's Far East connections and educated him about marijuana and the growing numbers of the population that enjoyed smoking it. The self-styled 'Mr Nice' persuaded Phil to join his burgeoning drugs business. Soon Phil's gambling habit stepped up a plane and he eventually struck out on his own. Read of his experiences with corrupt governments, his donation to Mother Teresa after sitting next to her on a plane and being plagued by guilt, how the IRA nearly killed him when they thought his grass was really grass, the death of Lord Moynihan as the net tightened on the syndicate, and his scheme to dump the world's nuclear waste on some small islands off New Zealand, thwarted by Greenpeace at the last minute. The winning streak ended when the US Drug Enforcement Agency arrested Phil in Thailand. By this time he has amassed a fortune of nearly 30 million, which was promptly confiscated. He spent the next four years in two of Thailand's most notorious prisons,

Genres: Biography, Crime, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published August 9, 2003

About the author

Emmy Award winning British Military Historian/Author/ Lecturer who's had the honor of reintroducing many US, British and German veterans to the WWII battlefields where they fought. He lives in Belgium near Antwerp where he spends his most of his time visiting European battlefields.

His voluntary work tracing individual histories has been a labor of love for almost 30 years. He speaks, and has a working knowledge of German Italian Dutch and French. Frequently in demand as a public speaker he has lectured at many British and US colleges, universities and military bases throughout the world. The History Channel hired Martin as a Historical Consultant on their series "Cities of the Underworld". In 2007 he began a new assignment working as a Historical consultant/writer on the hit series 'Greatest Tank Battles', currently the most watched military documentary in the US. Shortly thereafter he accepted an invitation to work as a Presenter/Historical Consultant on the series 'Narrow Escapes' with Bafta Award winning documentary makers WMR.

He is a frequent visitor to the prestigious West Point Military Academy. Widely regarded as a leading authority on European Military History, General Graham Hollands referred to him as the "Greatest living expert on the Battle of the Bulge". Steven Ambrose called him "Our expert in the Ardennes". Fellow writer and notable historian Professor Carlton Joyce said "He really is the best on the Ardennes". His campaigning work for World War Two veterans recently came to attention of some leading military personnel at the Pentagon who cordially invited him to present his latest work there. Awarded 'SERVICES TO EDUCATION' certificates by the USAF and NATO. In 2015 his documentary feature 'Searching for Augusta' received no less than 7 EMMY AWARDS for 'BEST HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY'. In 2017 his book 'THe Fighting 30th Division - They called them Roosevelt's SS' was nominated in the USA for the 'Prestigious writer Award'. He's also an Honorary Citizen and chosen Cultural Ambassador

Reviews

[Aran Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed, was entertaining to read the exploits of Mr sparrowhawk (except the odd bits where he gushes about Margaret Thatcher)

Have to say, it's hard to separate the truth from the bollocks but they do say that fact is stranger than fiction

Hard to find anything about his whereabouts these days. Googled him but nothing for over a decade. Maybe he's changed his identity again and found peace in the sunshine of Thailand, Vietnam or some other such place

[Ruth Collier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this is a fairly entertaining book, there are some amusing anecdotes and interesting bits. I didn't find the narrator especially likeable, I suppose I find it harder to relate to someone so interested in money and business, I think I'd rather hear from people who take drugs than people who distribute them! But just the same, I was happy with the way his story ends.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review originally written in 2004.

Grass By Phil Sparrowhawk
Well I can't believe I haven't finished reading
a book since Last May, but then the book I am
still working my way through just can't be
hurried, but a full review of that will be here
when I finish the last 100 or so pages.
Which means that in between being given this new
Book for Xmas by Jet and Saturday I managed to
rip my way through Grass by Phil Sparrowhawk who
was an associate of Howard Marks and targeted
by the DEA as one of there most wanted, so much
so that they tracked him down to Thailand and
had him arrested and extradited from there, even
though there is no extradtion treaty between USA
and Thailand.
The book is Phil's story of how a wide boy from
Epsom in Surrey became a major grass smuggler in
the Ton and above a shipment class.
The strange thing is that Phil himself doesn't
smoke grass or ever has, but it didn't stop him
from becoming involved in the business, the book
is a fast paced read through some incredible
exploits leading right up to and including his
thoughts on the American invasion of Iraq last
year.
But his description of how to survive in a Thai
Jail is brilliant, he even went onto become
the "Official" Heroin dealer in the
Bangkok "Hilton" dealing on behalf of the
prisons Governor!! Not surprisingly his
treatment by the DEA and Rico and Cia etc is the
most frightening both in the authorities
attitudes and stupidity, having plead guilty and
been sentenced to time served he was re arrested
for illegal immigration into the US and not
having a passport, even though he was only there
because he had been extradited from Thailand
where he lived at the time!
Well worth a read and a nice addition to the
collection of drug books coming from a nice
perspective and obvious personal experience of
the charade of International drug laws.
Oh also nice walk on parts for among others
Jimmy Carter and Mother Theresa...

[Micky Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

a good read Mr sparrowhawk lead an interesting life