The definitive account of the mass disappearance of 43 Mexican students and the government that tried to cover it up

On September 26, 2014, 43 male students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College went missing in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico. On route to a protest, local police intercepted the students and a confrontation ensued. By the morning, they had disappeared without a trace.

Hernández reconstructs almost minute-by-minute the events of those nights in late September 2014, giving us what is surely the most complete picture available: her sources are unparalleled, since she has secured access to internal government documents that have not been made public, and to video surveillance footage the government has tried to hide and destroy. Hernández demolishes the Mexican state's official version, which the Peña Nieto government cynically dubbed the "historic truth". As her research shows, state officials at all levels, from police and prosecutors to the upper echelons of the PRI administration, conspired to put together a fake case, concealing or manipulating evidence, and arresting and torturing dozens of "suspects" who then obliged with full "confessions" that matched the official lie. By following the role of the various Mexican state agencies through the events in such remarkable detail, Massacre in Mexico shows with exacting precision who is responsible for which component of this monumental crime.

"A powerful investigation for fans of true crime and nonfiction about the international drug trade." - Library Journal

"It is the most comprehensive account of what is known about the attack - and about the astonishingly corrupt government investigation that followed. A Massacre in Mexico presents an overwhelming case that federal government investigators working for the administration of Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto created a false narrative of local culpability and sought to close the case before an investigation could reveal the involvement of federal officials." - Jacobin

"Brilliant . a masterful piece of journalism which counteracts the narrative of the state." - Medium

"The stark truth of a sham 'war'... A product of five years' investigative reporting, Hernández's meticulously researched explanation of the links between the Sinaloa cartel, the world's biggest criminal organisation, and Mexico's leadership makes for jaw-dropping reading." - Independent

"An ambitious and daring sketch of the political nexus that ensures the Mexican system of narcotics delivery to the U.S." - Los Angeles Times

"A harrowing inquisition into the fate of forty-three missing Mexican students and the governmental cover-up... Hernandez delves deep into the corruption and violence despite threats against her life." - Foreword Reviews

"Praise for Narcoland: "We would all be poorer without Hernández's determination to account for a civil conflict that has cost at least 60,000 lives. There could be no greater shame for Mexico should such a fearless and dedicated reporter come to any harm."" - Sunday Times

"Anabel Hernández, journalist and author, accuses the Mexican state of complicity with the cartels, and says the 'war on drugs' is a sham. She's had headless animals left at her door and her family have been threatened by gunmen ... Narcoland became, and remains, a bestseller: more than 100,000 copies sold in Mexico." - Observer

"Praise for Narcoland: Narcoland, with its explosive descriptions of decades of corruption permeating the upper echelons of government, leaves an extremely bad taste in the reader's mouth about the state of Mexico's perennially corrupt institutions - and begs the question: how much has changed? For Narcoland, Anabel Hernandez spent five years combing police, court and US papers, securing access to informers and sources and pursuing often fruitless requests for official files. The result is a searing indictment of a war on drugs she believes was a sham from the start." - Financial Times