What do you think?
Rate this book
Arms and the Dudes: How Three Stoners from Miami Beach Became the Most Unlikely Gunrunners in History
The page-turning, inside account of how three kids from Florida became big-time weapons traders—and how the US government turned on them.
In January of 2007, three young stoners from Miami Beach won a $300 million Department of Defense contract to supply ammunition to the Afghanistan military. Incredibly, instead of fulfilling the order with high-quality arms, Efraim Diveroli, David Packouz, and Alex Podrizki—the dudes—bought cheap Communist-style surplus ammunition from Balkan gunrunners. The dudes then secretly repackaged millions of rounds of shoddy Chinese ammunition and shipped it to Kabul—until they were caught by Pentagon investigators and the scandal turned up on the front page of The New York Times.
That’s the “official” story. The truth is far more explosive. For the first time, journalist Guy Lawson tells the thrilling true tale. It’s a trip that goes from a dive apartment in Miami Beach to mountain caves in Albania, the corridors of power in Washington, and the frontlines of Iraq and Afghanistan. Lawson’s account includes a shady Swiss gunrunner, Russian arms dealers, corrupt Albanian gangsters, and a Pentagon investigation that impeded America’s war efforts in Afghanistan. Lawson exposes the mysterious and murky world of global arms dealing, showing how the American military came to use private contractors like Diveroli, Packouz, and Podrizki as middlemen to secure weapons from illegal arms dealers—the same men who sell guns to dictators, warlords, and drug traffickers.
This is a story you were never meant to read.
In January of 2007, three young stoners from Miami Beach won a $300 million Department of Defense contract to supply ammunition to the Afghanistan military. Incredibly, instead of fulfilling the order with high-quality arms, Efraim Diveroli, David Packouz, and Alex Podrizki—the dudes—bought cheap Communist-style surplus ammunition from Balkan gunrunners. The dudes then secretly repackaged millions of rounds of shoddy Chinese ammunition and shipped it to Kabul—until they were caught by Pentagon investigators and the scandal turned up on the front page of The New York Times.
That’s the “official” story. The truth is far more explosive. For the first time, journalist Guy Lawson tells the thrilling true tale. It’s a trip that goes from a dive apartment in Miami Beach to mountain caves in Albania, the corridors of power in Washington, and the frontlines of Iraq and Afghanistan. Lawson’s account includes a shady Swiss gunrunner, Russian arms dealers, corrupt Albanian gangsters, and a Pentagon investigation that impeded America’s war efforts in Afghanistan. Lawson exposes the mysterious and murky world of global arms dealing, showing how the American military came to use private contractors like Diveroli, Packouz, and Podrizki as middlemen to secure weapons from illegal arms dealers—the same men who sell guns to dictators, warlords, and drug traffickers.
This is a story you were never meant to read.
288 pages, ebook
First published April 14, 2015
217 people are currently reading
2884 people want to read
About the author
Guy Lawson
13 books79 followersGuy is the New York Times bestselling author of Arms and The Dudes: How Three Miami Beach Stoners Became the Most Unlikely Gun Runners in History. He is also the author of the Octopus: Sam Israel, the Secret Market, and Wall Street’s Wildest Con, and The Brotherhoods: The True Story of Two Cops Who Murdered for the Mafia.
For two decades Guy has traveled the world reporting on a wide range of subjects—conflict in the Balkans, the Mexican drug wars, ice hockey in northern Canada, life in a Bowery flophouse, fútbol in Brazil, Hezbollah suicide bombers, the Rwandan genocide war crime trials, and FBI-fabricated domestic terrorism cases, among others. His work has appeared in many international publications, including The New York Times Magazine, Harper’s, GQ, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, The Australian, and the Globe and Mail.
Guy has four projects in development for film. Arms and the Dudes is currently being filmed by Warner Brothers, with Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street, 21 Jump Street) and Miles Teller (Whiplash, The Spectacular Now) starring and Todd Phillips (The Hangover I, II, II) directing. In April 2015, Guy’s Rolling Stone article The Dukes of Oxy was optioned by New Line/Warner Brothers, with Mike De Luca (The Social Network, Moneyball) attached to produce and Ansel Elgort (Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars) to star. In addition, Guy’s book Octopus is with HBO, to be written and directed by Peter Gould (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Too Big to Fail). The Brotherhoods is with Warner Brothers, to be produced by Dan Lin (The Lego Movie, Sherlock Holmes I, II, III).
Guy was born in Toronto and holds degrees from the University of Western Australia and the University of Cambridge. He lives in upstate New York with his wife and two daughters.
For two decades Guy has traveled the world reporting on a wide range of subjects—conflict in the Balkans, the Mexican drug wars, ice hockey in northern Canada, life in a Bowery flophouse, fútbol in Brazil, Hezbollah suicide bombers, the Rwandan genocide war crime trials, and FBI-fabricated domestic terrorism cases, among others. His work has appeared in many international publications, including The New York Times Magazine, Harper’s, GQ, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, The Australian, and the Globe and Mail.
Guy has four projects in development for film. Arms and the Dudes is currently being filmed by Warner Brothers, with Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street, 21 Jump Street) and Miles Teller (Whiplash, The Spectacular Now) starring and Todd Phillips (The Hangover I, II, II) directing. In April 2015, Guy’s Rolling Stone article The Dukes of Oxy was optioned by New Line/Warner Brothers, with Mike De Luca (The Social Network, Moneyball) attached to produce and Ansel Elgort (Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars) to star. In addition, Guy’s book Octopus is with HBO, to be written and directed by Peter Gould (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Too Big to Fail). The Brotherhoods is with Warner Brothers, to be produced by Dan Lin (The Lego Movie, Sherlock Holmes I, II, III).
Guy was born in Toronto and holds degrees from the University of Western Australia and the University of Cambridge. He lives in upstate New York with his wife and two daughters.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 191 reviews
November 26, 2016
Wanting to read the book before watching the movie (renamed 'War Dogs'), I picked up this copy. It is meticulously researched and gives an engaging account of the high level dysfunction in the US arms procurement process. To do this, Lawson uses the improbable case of a trio of teenagers who win government contracts to supply arms and supplies for Iraq and Afghanistan through the US Department of Defense.
The author seems to dwell on the story's minutiae (i.e. dates and times of telephone calls) or on things only tangentially connected (the munitions explosion in the Albanian town of Gerdec), but the overall plot is still interesting. My Young Adults will love this!
The author seems to dwell on the story's minutiae (i.e. dates and times of telephone calls) or on things only tangentially connected (the munitions explosion in the Albanian town of Gerdec), but the overall plot is still interesting. My Young Adults will love this!
August 18, 2016
I picked this up because I'm dying to see the movie, starring Jonah Hill and Miles Teller, two men I would gladly sip wine with on a Venetian gondola in the pale moonlight, and I was not even remotely disappointed.
War Dogs, previously published as Arms and the Dudes, is a high-octane thrill ride that's so insane, it can only be true.
First and foremost, props must be given to Guy Lawson for writing a compelling, progressive story while sticking to the facts. The vignettes about arms deals and political maneuvering occurring adjacent to the A-story were all superbly placed and fit well in the context of the book. I don't read a lot of non-fiction (which I should change at some point) but I'll be first in line to buy anything with Lawson's name on it in the future. The writing has a solid, lyrical flow to it that makes it easy to dive into the murky world of international arms dealers and examine it through the actions of some Florida stoners.
Efraim Diveroli makes for a great villain in his own story. He's arrogant, abusive, manipulative, and kind of a sociopath. I mean, he spends this entire book lying to...everyone. Every single person who backs him, works for him, or works with him gets lied to by this teen (and then twenty-something) punk from Miami who was on his way to becoming one of the most successful arms dealers of the 21st Century.
David Packouz is the good guy who got drawn into Diveroli's schemes and wasted years of his life helping a guy he didn't even like much become a millionaire doing arms deals on behalf of the US government. He (and Alex Podrizki, another member of Diveroli's team) is the most sympathetic figure in a book that's light on good guys. There are a lot of people who get screwed over, usually because of Diveroli's dickassery, but not a lot of inherently good people who are just trying to do the right thing. Packouz, trying to follow his dream of becoming a rock star and provide for his daughter, grounds the story and gives readers someone to root for--even though the ending is already set in stone.
The most interesting thing about War Dogs is the level of incompetence displayed by the US government throughout. Really, every government portrayed here is like an ultra-powerful toddler who's just screwing with the other toddlers for...reasons. The government officials are cold, obsessed with bringing people to "justice," and as manipulative as Diveroli, the man they're supposed to be bringing down. They lie, threaten, mistreat informants/whistleblowers, and entrap people just because they can. If you have to go through an elaborate scheme to make someone break the law, maybe you're just a dick and they shouldn't go to prison for that. They should go for other things, sure, but not that.
One of the main problems facing our protagonists is that they're defrauding the government by repackaging "Chinese"-made ammunition from Albania (which is illegal under US law; we don't like bullets from China for no reason). There's nothing wrong with the ammo itself--by the time things come crashing down on Diveroli and Co., a lot of it has already been delivered with no complaints about quality. By the time I got to the end of the book, I was disgusted with Diveroli, disgusted with the US government, and disgusted with the world of firearms--but the path it took to get that point was insanely, compellingly readable.
Read this book. It's great, fast (I finished it in a day), and, like the back promises, an "all-too-real" story about money, corruption, and warfare.
War Dogs, previously published as Arms and the Dudes, is a high-octane thrill ride that's so insane, it can only be true.
First and foremost, props must be given to Guy Lawson for writing a compelling, progressive story while sticking to the facts. The vignettes about arms deals and political maneuvering occurring adjacent to the A-story were all superbly placed and fit well in the context of the book. I don't read a lot of non-fiction (which I should change at some point) but I'll be first in line to buy anything with Lawson's name on it in the future. The writing has a solid, lyrical flow to it that makes it easy to dive into the murky world of international arms dealers and examine it through the actions of some Florida stoners.
Efraim Diveroli makes for a great villain in his own story. He's arrogant, abusive, manipulative, and kind of a sociopath. I mean, he spends this entire book lying to...everyone. Every single person who backs him, works for him, or works with him gets lied to by this teen (and then twenty-something) punk from Miami who was on his way to becoming one of the most successful arms dealers of the 21st Century.
David Packouz is the good guy who got drawn into Diveroli's schemes and wasted years of his life helping a guy he didn't even like much become a millionaire doing arms deals on behalf of the US government. He (and Alex Podrizki, another member of Diveroli's team) is the most sympathetic figure in a book that's light on good guys. There are a lot of people who get screwed over, usually because of Diveroli's dickassery, but not a lot of inherently good people who are just trying to do the right thing. Packouz, trying to follow his dream of becoming a rock star and provide for his daughter, grounds the story and gives readers someone to root for--even though the ending is already set in stone.
The most interesting thing about War Dogs is the level of incompetence displayed by the US government throughout. Really, every government portrayed here is like an ultra-powerful toddler who's just screwing with the other toddlers for...reasons. The government officials are cold, obsessed with bringing people to "justice," and as manipulative as Diveroli, the man they're supposed to be bringing down. They lie, threaten, mistreat informants/whistleblowers, and entrap people just because they can. If you have to go through an elaborate scheme to make someone break the law, maybe you're just a dick and they shouldn't go to prison for that. They should go for other things, sure, but not that.
One of the main problems facing our protagonists is that they're defrauding the government by repackaging "Chinese"-made ammunition from Albania (which is illegal under US law; we don't like bullets from China for no reason). There's nothing wrong with the ammo itself--by the time things come crashing down on Diveroli and Co., a lot of it has already been delivered with no complaints about quality. By the time I got to the end of the book, I was disgusted with Diveroli, disgusted with the US government, and disgusted with the world of firearms--but the path it took to get that point was insanely, compellingly readable.
Read this book. It's great, fast (I finished it in a day), and, like the back promises, an "all-too-real" story about money, corruption, and warfare.
September 27, 2017
An informative and entertaining eye-opener for folks interested in the (all-too-often, sordid) shallow end of defense procurement (or government contracting) during the modern era of outsourcing. [When I say shallow end, I mean this is the opposite end of the spectrum from books about major systems, state-of-the-art technology development, or large scale weapons manufacturing such as Whittle's Dream Machine (about the V-22) or Predator (about the, duh, Predator drone/UAV), or Baime's Arsenal of Democracy (about Ford's WWI B-24 bombers) or Barr's Trump Card (about the Polaris ballistic missile system) or... ]
A mostly accessible and crazy story of (generally) unqualified, unprofessional young people inserting themselves into the global arms trade and ultimately falling into Alice's oh-so-bizarre rabbit hole as a result of the the US military being stretched too thin and trying to do too many things, compounded by (frequently conflicting) post-Millennial Defense Department policies of, among other things, bending over backwards to steer contracts to "small business" (for social and political reasons), working around endless (often arbitrary) Congressional mandates (for example, that the government cannot purchase Chinese ammunition - or, as some remember, black berets made in China (unless they're rushing to buy them in time for the Army's big birthday party), yuck, yuck), inadequate staffing of the government's acquisition function (which includes the oversight and post-award contract management/supervision function), the ever-increasing focus on oversight/enforcement/policing of the process (and prosecution and punishment of contractors) instead to investing in proactive efforts to avoid the problems in the first place, etc....
Caveats and disclaimers. I read the original, long form, Rolling Stone piece years ago. [It's available here: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/... ] I enjoyed it, I found it (somewhat) informative, but it was plenty good enough that it was something that my colleagues and I frequently recommended to students and discussed in (graduate school) classrooms. When the movie came out - with two, legitimate, big-screen actors - I saw it and, frankly, found it surprisingly entertaining and compelling, even if it took more than its fair share of liberties. (If you're in the business, however, it's really cool that the ubiquitous government website, https://www.fbo.gov/, should/could have been nominated for best support movie prop, but I digress....) Finally getting around to reading the book, therefore, proved to be a little of a letdown, since (to me) the story was familiar, and the increased length merely permitted me to identify irritants and critiques. But, I'm guessing, for most readers, that shouldn't be the case.
Final note: I'm a big fan of endings and conclusions, and I place disproportionate stock in them. (Forgive me, for I am weak.) I thought that the epilogue was nicely done, and it would be a mistake to give up on the book without reading the closing passages.
A mostly accessible and crazy story of (generally) unqualified, unprofessional young people inserting themselves into the global arms trade and ultimately falling into Alice's oh-so-bizarre rabbit hole as a result of the the US military being stretched too thin and trying to do too many things, compounded by (frequently conflicting) post-Millennial Defense Department policies of, among other things, bending over backwards to steer contracts to "small business" (for social and political reasons), working around endless (often arbitrary) Congressional mandates (for example, that the government cannot purchase Chinese ammunition - or, as some remember, black berets made in China (unless they're rushing to buy them in time for the Army's big birthday party), yuck, yuck), inadequate staffing of the government's acquisition function (which includes the oversight and post-award contract management/supervision function), the ever-increasing focus on oversight/enforcement/policing of the process (and prosecution and punishment of contractors) instead to investing in proactive efforts to avoid the problems in the first place, etc....
Caveats and disclaimers. I read the original, long form, Rolling Stone piece years ago. [It's available here: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/... ] I enjoyed it, I found it (somewhat) informative, but it was plenty good enough that it was something that my colleagues and I frequently recommended to students and discussed in (graduate school) classrooms. When the movie came out - with two, legitimate, big-screen actors - I saw it and, frankly, found it surprisingly entertaining and compelling, even if it took more than its fair share of liberties. (If you're in the business, however, it's really cool that the ubiquitous government website, https://www.fbo.gov/, should/could have been nominated for best support movie prop, but I digress....) Finally getting around to reading the book, therefore, proved to be a little of a letdown, since (to me) the story was familiar, and the increased length merely permitted me to identify irritants and critiques. But, I'm guessing, for most readers, that shouldn't be the case.
Final note: I'm a big fan of endings and conclusions, and I place disproportionate stock in them. (Forgive me, for I am weak.) I thought that the epilogue was nicely done, and it would be a mistake to give up on the book without reading the closing passages.
August 14, 2016
Anyone already slightly disillusioned with government, bureaucracy or the military should not read this book for fear of death from exasperation. The levels of inadequate and even deliberately vague and ineffective oversight are staggering. The dudes did break laws, but some of the laws were dumb, and all of them were selectively enforced. Efraim was a dick, and probably deserved prosecution, but not really for what he was actually indicted for. That two young dudes without a degree or military experience between them managed to win a ~300 million dollar military contract is insane, but completely possible considering the policies surrounding military contract and how the contracts are written and made available. These dudes were definitely just the most obvious case to take the fall for the disorganisation, willful ignorance and corruption that went along with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Little to no changes have been made to the system since these indictments, and I'm sure that the US government is still using middlemen contractors like AEY to keep their hands clean from directly dealing with blacklisted gun runners and directly violating arbitrary embargoes in their efforts to quickly arm groups like the Kurds in the fight against Daesh (ISIS).
August 18, 2015
I was pretty excited to read this book after hearing the author describe the story. It seemed compelling, fantastic and, oddly, entertaining. How could three stoners from Florida become major international gun runners? It seemed too improbable to be true. The book had a great start but I found it lost steam very quickly. The situations "the dudes" find themselves are straight out of a James Bond novel yet they eventually seemed repetitive. The ending was unsatisfying, too. Yes, this is an indictment of military spending and oversight gone horribly wrong but it isn't enough for a whole book. The Rolling Stone article that Lawson wrote probably said everything that needed to be said.
December 30, 2016
I rarely listen to audio books because I can barely pay attention to them BUT I did listen to this book and enjoyed it.
The best part of this book was learning about how the US provided munitions and other materiel to Iraq and Afghanistan in the mid/late 2000s. I was stunned that the government posted contracts for items ranging from helmets to AK-47s on a website (fbo.gov) and provided very little oversight of the companies who fulfilled the contracts.
The first worst part of this book was that it felt repetitive; there are many, many examples of the dudes' antics and dialogue to illustrate "WHOA these guys are crazy !!!," which gets boring after a while. The book is also pretty sexist, and while I think that some sexism was necessary to establish setting and characterization, there were some instances that were tangential and try-hard.
Overall, it's probably fine to just wait for the movie and see that instead.
The best part of this book was learning about how the US provided munitions and other materiel to Iraq and Afghanistan in the mid/late 2000s. I was stunned that the government posted contracts for items ranging from helmets to AK-47s on a website (fbo.gov) and provided very little oversight of the companies who fulfilled the contracts.
The first worst part of this book was that it felt repetitive; there are many, many examples of the dudes' antics and dialogue to illustrate "WHOA these guys are crazy !!!," which gets boring after a while. The book is also pretty sexist, and while I think that some sexism was necessary to establish setting and characterization, there were some instances that were tangential and try-hard.
Overall, it's probably fine to just wait for the movie and see that instead.
March 31, 2016
Dudes comes from the same vein as the works of one of my favorite authors, Ben Mezrich - true stories woven with the flair and dramatic intensity of a tale unconstrained by historical fact. Three stars, more for the story than for Lawson's rendering.
Three twenty-something dudes strike gold within the US government's ill-conceived military contract bid process. Despite a lack of experience, knowledge and funds they land key, lucrative contracts and suddenly bec6me major players in the international arms market. You'll be amazed by the dudes' exploits and dismayed (though likely not surprised) at the government's bumbling mess of a procurement system.
So, the story sells itself. Unfortunately, Lawson lacks Mezrich's word craft. With clunky and unimaginative prose, what should be a riveting page-turner becomes a matter of fact recounting. A lot of fun but no magic.
Three twenty-something dudes strike gold within the US government's ill-conceived military contract bid process. Despite a lack of experience, knowledge and funds they land key, lucrative contracts and suddenly bec6me major players in the international arms market. You'll be amazed by the dudes' exploits and dismayed (though likely not surprised) at the government's bumbling mess of a procurement system.
So, the story sells itself. Unfortunately, Lawson lacks Mezrich's word craft. With clunky and unimaginative prose, what should be a riveting page-turner becomes a matter of fact recounting. A lot of fun but no magic.
December 25, 2021
The fascinating subtext to this book is that while these guys were grifters and hustlers, they were essentially rowing a tiny boat amongst the larger streams and currents of global macro economic trends. They were casualties in a cutthroat game being played between the US and Russia.
The real crime here is not that a 20 something hustled the US government into accepting his munitions, the crime is that the US government essentially knew what was happening, and used a 20 something as a front man to buy from sources and disreputable parties that they were legally prohibited from doing so. No one is really innocent here, and there are plenty of victims in the story none really deserve our sympathy.
It’s just a carousel of Fuckery.
The real crime here is not that a 20 something hustled the US government into accepting his munitions, the crime is that the US government essentially knew what was happening, and used a 20 something as a front man to buy from sources and disreputable parties that they were legally prohibited from doing so. No one is really innocent here, and there are plenty of victims in the story none really deserve our sympathy.
It’s just a carousel of Fuckery.
July 7, 2016
I had higher hopes for this book. The premise was compelling but it quickly turned into a slog.
September 7, 2016
Thank you Goodreads for my copy of War Dogs. Loved the book from start to finish. The author handles complex financial dealings and explains them simply without dumbing down . This book points out the problems with the government procurement process. If you think this book is a comedy based on Jonah Hill being in a movie adaptation, I can assure you it is much much more.
August 17, 2023
when I picked up this book I didn't expect much from the real story behind the comedy War Dogs but this story is insane and I'm so confused it took so long for the truth to come out??? it's actually insane what the US gov tried to hide and how successful they were, an insane story from front to back that is almost hard to believe but the US is f-ed up so yeah
August 3, 2016
maybe I'm being a little bit cushy with the rating. but even if it wasn't the best written book, it was superbly interesting and also really cool (if you are into international politics/military/arms dealing issues). very excited for the movie on august 18th!!!
March 25, 2018
Saw the movie and was so fascinated with the story told there that I wanted to learn more about the guys behind the movie but didn't want to read it since I basically knew the story so I listened to the audiobook. Enjoyed it.
July 4, 2017
Decent book. Very cut and dry.
February 7, 2019
Good book written by journalist so a bit like reading the newspaper sometimes
February 12, 2023
Picked it up after watching War Dogs, it turned out even better than the movie. 9/10.
May 6, 2024
So INCREDIBLY information dense. It feels like it took me 500 years to finish this tiny book because it was so so so dense. But super interesting!
July 21, 2024
Pretty good book, more detail than the movie. Kind of repetitive at times but still a good read.
January 17, 2023
Overall, this book gives a damning perspective on the inefficiencies and contradictions within the U.S. government during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The last chapters make you want to pull your hair out at the myopic sight of DCIS and Army officials, not to mention the hastily drafted procurement procedures drafted by the Pentagon. The frustration becomes acute once you realize that all of the technicalities and red tape very likely caused a significant number of unnecessary deaths. Lawson also highlights the more sinister side of the Pentagon procurement procedures: allowing the U.S. to indirectly buy from gun smugglers and organized criminals.
Besides the political aspects, this is also just a fun story to read; complete with guns, money, drugs, crime, and politics. By the end of the story, you conclude Diveroli is a dick, but you also sympathize with AEY - and by extension the dudes - being the scapegoat for fraud in the Iraq and Afghan wars.
Lawson also does a good job of weaving the geopolitical background into the story, as well as clearly laying out the intricacies of business deals and political incentives in a way that is understandable. Who knew that while most of the economy was reeling in 2007-08, a small subset of arms dealers was making easy money on FedBizOpps?
Besides the political aspects, this is also just a fun story to read; complete with guns, money, drugs, crime, and politics. By the end of the story, you conclude Diveroli is a dick, but you also sympathize with AEY - and by extension the dudes - being the scapegoat for fraud in the Iraq and Afghan wars.
Lawson also does a good job of weaving the geopolitical background into the story, as well as clearly laying out the intricacies of business deals and political incentives in a way that is understandable. Who knew that while most of the economy was reeling in 2007-08, a small subset of arms dealers was making easy money on FedBizOpps?
March 5, 2023
"War Dogs" is a thrilling and gripping read that tells a real life story of three unlikely gunrunners. The story offers a valuable lesson that if something is too good too good too be true it probably is, and the main characters learned this lesson the hard way.
The book offers an insightful look into the world of war profiteering and the murky dealings that occur in the shadows of conflict zones. I really enjoyed learning more about international politics as well domestic tendering and procurement side of the book - I though that was the best part of War Dogs.
The only reason I didn't give it five stars is that there were some parts where the pacing felt a bit slow, but overall, "War Dogs" is a must-read for anyone interested in military history and the complexities of modern warfare.
The book offers an insightful look into the world of war profiteering and the murky dealings that occur in the shadows of conflict zones. I really enjoyed learning more about international politics as well domestic tendering and procurement side of the book - I though that was the best part of War Dogs.
The only reason I didn't give it five stars is that there were some parts where the pacing felt a bit slow, but overall, "War Dogs" is a must-read for anyone interested in military history and the complexities of modern warfare.
March 9, 2025
actually a 3.75 - it’s a good story and explained why it went the way it did, but can’t justify a higher grade for a book that took me years to finish 🥴
October 19, 2025
Really liked this read! Interesting! Better than the movie even!
February 28, 2017
This is actually a 3.5 * review.
If you go into this expecting something could be turned into a Jonah Hill/Miles Teller movie, you'll be disappointed. But if you're looking for a searing indictment of American foreign policy in the age of Iraq/Afghanistan, as well as an entertaining yarn about 2 idiot stoners in over their heads, you'll enjoy this.
There's not a lot to say beyond "this is a fun read." It's not a character study, but you end up feeling like Diveroli - and especially Packouz - really weren't the bad guys here. Diveroli is a psychopath, but he's mostly a buffoon. And Packouz is a lost kid in over his head. At the end of the day, they only get into trouble because the government - especially under Bush - was utterly incompetent and corrupt. Had they just been slightly more evil, they likely would've gotten away with everything - and Lawson makes clear that even their "crime" was small potatoes in the chaos of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Their only real mistake was not buying enough influence. The true bad guys here are the US government and the powerful corporations that suck on its teat (well, and the shadowy cabal of international arms dealers who supply despots and NATO governments alike).
Lawson isn't a great stylist, but he keeps the momentum moving and has a gift for distilling complicated information into layman's terms. He's also blessed with a wonderful sense of humor - necessary for material this dark. He does good, solid reporting here.
You'll blow through War Dogs in a few days; it's not the kind of book you sit with and savor. You'll walk away from it angry, bemused, and a little sad - but you'll be glad you read it. The world needs investigative reporting like this - now, more than ever.
If you go into this expecting something could be turned into a Jonah Hill/Miles Teller movie, you'll be disappointed. But if you're looking for a searing indictment of American foreign policy in the age of Iraq/Afghanistan, as well as an entertaining yarn about 2 idiot stoners in over their heads, you'll enjoy this.
There's not a lot to say beyond "this is a fun read." It's not a character study, but you end up feeling like Diveroli - and especially Packouz - really weren't the bad guys here. Diveroli is a psychopath, but he's mostly a buffoon. And Packouz is a lost kid in over his head. At the end of the day, they only get into trouble because the government - especially under Bush - was utterly incompetent and corrupt. Had they just been slightly more evil, they likely would've gotten away with everything - and Lawson makes clear that even their "crime" was small potatoes in the chaos of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Their only real mistake was not buying enough influence. The true bad guys here are the US government and the powerful corporations that suck on its teat (well, and the shadowy cabal of international arms dealers who supply despots and NATO governments alike).
Lawson isn't a great stylist, but he keeps the momentum moving and has a gift for distilling complicated information into layman's terms. He's also blessed with a wonderful sense of humor - necessary for material this dark. He does good, solid reporting here.
You'll blow through War Dogs in a few days; it's not the kind of book you sit with and savor. You'll walk away from it angry, bemused, and a little sad - but you'll be glad you read it. The world needs investigative reporting like this - now, more than ever.
May 6, 2017
It took me awhile to finish this book because 1) I kept misplacing it and 2) the numerous government agencies and sub-agencies plus the minutiae about the weaponry and procurement process made for a dense read at times.
However, don't be put off by that; this is a fascinating tale of incompetence and ruthlessness at the hand of the American government that made it possible for a group of 20-somethings to work as war contractors before being prosecuted for...well, fulfilling the terms of those contracts. Guy Lawson did a spectacular job reporting on both the nitty-gritty details and putting the "official" story in larger context to show that there was so much more to know.
It also doesn't hurt that Efraim Diveroli feels like a Scarface-inspired character: indulgent and reckless, greedy and abusive, yet intelligent enough by his late teens to start his own business in the high-stakes arena of gun running and procurement. Diveroli's self-assuredness that he is always the smartest, most cunning one in the room serves as a cautionary tale, even though Diveroli's fate is not entirely his own fault. Like his business partners David Packouz and Alex Podrizki, he got swept up by events beyond his reach.
The film starring Miles Teller and Jonah Hill doesn't delve deeply into these moral and legal quandries, opting instead to focus on the "tales about young people doing f--ked- up things," as Guy Lawson would describe his initial story that ran in Rolling Stone. But it's worth scratching that surface and looking deeper, and the book does that well.
However, don't be put off by that; this is a fascinating tale of incompetence and ruthlessness at the hand of the American government that made it possible for a group of 20-somethings to work as war contractors before being prosecuted for...well, fulfilling the terms of those contracts. Guy Lawson did a spectacular job reporting on both the nitty-gritty details and putting the "official" story in larger context to show that there was so much more to know.
It also doesn't hurt that Efraim Diveroli feels like a Scarface-inspired character: indulgent and reckless, greedy and abusive, yet intelligent enough by his late teens to start his own business in the high-stakes arena of gun running and procurement. Diveroli's self-assuredness that he is always the smartest, most cunning one in the room serves as a cautionary tale, even though Diveroli's fate is not entirely his own fault. Like his business partners David Packouz and Alex Podrizki, he got swept up by events beyond his reach.
The film starring Miles Teller and Jonah Hill doesn't delve deeply into these moral and legal quandries, opting instead to focus on the "tales about young people doing f--ked- up things," as Guy Lawson would describe his initial story that ran in Rolling Stone. But it's worth scratching that surface and looking deeper, and the book does that well.
October 17, 2017
Fascinating story of a very aggressive and ambitious young man, barely in his 20’s, who barreled his way into the world of international arms dealing.
Taking his friends with him, Yeshiva-dropout Efraim Diveroli worked his way into a $300MLN contract with the US government to supply the entire Afghan army (and other security services) with small arms and ammunition.
While the film stays on that track, the book widens the scope of this tale significantly. Lawson’s story no longer centers on the brash young Diveroli, but exposes the myriad contradictions within the American government’s procurement process. Different interpretations of legal standards, plus differing personalities in different agencies all work against the expediency of getting materiel into the field. In this case the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand of the US gov’t is doing, and Diveroli and his colleagues are caught in the middle, way above their heads, essentially walking into a sting set up by part of the government they’re working for.
Fascinating look into the hall of mirrors that is Beltway Banditry, international arms dealing, and the lurching machine of US military logistics for host-nation partners. It’s a miracle we ever accomplish anything, anywhere.
Taking his friends with him, Yeshiva-dropout Efraim Diveroli worked his way into a $300MLN contract with the US government to supply the entire Afghan army (and other security services) with small arms and ammunition.
While the film stays on that track, the book widens the scope of this tale significantly. Lawson’s story no longer centers on the brash young Diveroli, but exposes the myriad contradictions within the American government’s procurement process. Different interpretations of legal standards, plus differing personalities in different agencies all work against the expediency of getting materiel into the field. In this case the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand of the US gov’t is doing, and Diveroli and his colleagues are caught in the middle, way above their heads, essentially walking into a sting set up by part of the government they’re working for.
Fascinating look into the hall of mirrors that is Beltway Banditry, international arms dealing, and the lurching machine of US military logistics for host-nation partners. It’s a miracle we ever accomplish anything, anywhere.
December 6, 2022
Wild story about how a couple of Miami bros became big-time gunrunners in the 2000s, even landing a $300 million contract to arm the Afghan army with 100 million rounds of AK-47 ammo before the feds caught up with them (they executed the deal with leftover stocks of Chinese ammunition languishing in Albanian bunkers, in violation of US law barring the purchase of Chinese arms). Laugh-out-loud funny at times, but more seriously, it's an interesting case study of the murky world of arms dealing and how the US government uses these people as middle men for arms transactions before throwing them to the wolves as soon as problems emerge.
November 6, 2016
True story which seems unbelievable!
Fast paced but at times felt like tabloid journalism. Also makes you wonder were the Army procurement people really that dumb to be so easily conned by these stoner dudes? But since its true God help us, if our government agencies are this corrupt and incompetent! All I can say is wow! The story does keep one engaged.
Fast paced but at times felt like tabloid journalism. Also makes you wonder were the Army procurement people really that dumb to be so easily conned by these stoner dudes? But since its true God help us, if our government agencies are this corrupt and incompetent! All I can say is wow! The story does keep one engaged.
April 9, 2018
Nekem a film is kifejezetten tetszett, úgyhogy jót vártam a könyvtől, és nem is csalódtam. Elképesztő sztori arról, hogy a neten kattintgatva egy kis akarattal milliárdos fegyverkereskedővé lehet válni, és amúgy, hogy mennyire nem ideális ez, ha bármi para van. A könyv stílusa néha egy kicsit túl száraz, de maga a sztori kellően érdekes ahhoz, hogy ez ne legyen igazán probléma.
May 10, 2019
This book is based on a true story how 3 men from Miami became some of the best gun dealers or "gun runners" as they call them in the book. The book shows the dream of young adults becoming rich and leading a lesser known industry and interested me because of the comical and serious parts seen throughout the book.
June 1, 2018
An excellent book, that details how vulnerable Government Contracting and Services system, especially once it's outside continental United States (OCUNUS). Two drug-addicts abused the system to their benefit, making millions of dollars, right under the nose of U.S. Government machinery.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 191 reviews