MARIA DUARTE recommends a remarkable study of the friendship between a Palestinian and a Pakistani, broken by a hostile state
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Gripping tale of dark-web drug dealer’s rise and demise
Daniel Moutia reviews American Kingpin by Nick Bilton
MATTHEW HAWKINS rakes through un-fancy words and flair-free summaries to find who and what might be flamboyant
PETER MASON is exhilarated by an exciting, well-considered and historically minded tribute to the great Trinidadian instrument
Reducing historical lives to ‘male’ and ‘female’ roles, we lose the nuance of those lives and a clearer understanding of past societies, suggests CLAIRE ISABELLA GILMOUR
CHRIS SEARLE relishes the genius of pianist Alexander Hawkins, his many ensembles, and his new album
American Kingpin by Nick Bilton (Virgin Books, £12.99)
DRUGS, guns and illegal porn are said to be the only things you can buy with the cryptocurrency Bitcoin and this well-written book chronicles its centrality to the rise and fall of the Silk Road, the site on the dark web — the hidden part of the internet — the people behind it and those tasked with bringing the virtual marketplace to an end.
The creation of the Silk Road, the “Amazon of drugs,” came about at the perfect time, according to American Kingpin’s author Nick Bilton. In its ascendancy, Bitcoin allowed online trade to flourish anonymously and all that was required was someone willing to take advantage.
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