It is very common that after taking our Free Walking Tour in Medellin many people ask us about further reading material to better understand our city and country.
That makes us very happy and this is why we have curated a reading list to help you understand the local context and history through a series of fiction and non-fiction books. We have organized them by topic and for each book we included the available languages, a link to buy it and a little synopsis.
The list is rather generous, so we have created a short list of our favorites, we call it: Essentials. Below that list you will find the whole list.
Enjoy!
Essential Books:
- Colombian History: Colombia, una nación a pesar de sí misma or Colombia: A Nation in Spite of Itself – by David Bushnell
- Available languages: Spanish and English (Amazon link: Spanish version / English version)
- Synopsis: The book presents a complete synthesis of the events that have taken place throughout the country’s history. It’s great to understand important topics such as politics, economy, culture and society.
- Literature: El olvido que seremos or Oblivion – by Héctor Abad Faciolince
- Available languages: Spanish and English
- Amazon link: Spanish version / English version
- Synopsis: It’s a personal, tender and easy to read book. Although it is literature, it is based on true events and will help you understand the social atmosphere this country lived in the 70’s and 80’sHéctor Abad Faciolince’s memoir narrates the life and career of his father, Héctor Abad Gómez. Abad Gómez was a doctor, university professor and social leader whose criticism of the Colombian reallity led to his murder by paramilitaries in 1987.
- On the topic of Drugs: Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel by Tom Wainwright
- Available languages: English
- Amazon link
- Synopsis: Tom Wainwright provides a unique and eye-opening perspective on the drug trade. Through different characters, such as dealers and customers, the author reconstructs the machinery that runs behind this business and exposes how the war on drugs is doomed to fail but he also sheds light on how governments could solve it.
Below you will find the following categories: Colombian History, Transformation of Medellin, Drugs issue, Paisa authors and Colombian authors.
Enjoy it!
Books about Colombia’s history and the armed conflict:
- Colombia, una nación a pesar de sí misma or Colombia: A Nation in Spite of Itself – by David Bushnell
- Available languages: Spanish and English (Amazon link: Spanish version / English version)
- Synopsis: The book presents a complete synthesis of the events that have taken place throughout the country’s history. It’s great to understand important topics such as politics, economy, culture and society.
- 50 Años de Conflicto Armado by Alfredo Molano
- Available languages: Spanish
- Amazon link (Not available in Amazon)
- Synopsis: Through a 10-chapter recompilation, the journalist and anthropologist Alfredo Molano narrates the origins of the guerrilla group FARC and the events that took place during their war with the State.
- Colombia: A Concise Contemporary History by Michael J. LaRosa and others.
- Available languages: English
- Amazon link
- Synopsis: The book traces the history of Colombia over the past two centuries. The authors narrate the historical timeline from a different point of view, presenting political, social and cultural accomplishments.
- Between Legitimacy and Violence: A History of Colombia, 1875-2002 by Marco Palacios
- Available languages: English
- Amazon link
- Synopsis: The book presents Colombia’s political, economic, social and cultural history. The narrative goes from the civil wars of the late nineteenth century to the drug wars of the late twentieth.
- La historia de las guerras by Rafael Pardo
- Available languages: Spanish
- Amazon link
- Synopsis: The book presents the conflicts that have taken place in Colombia throughout the years. It encompasses wars from colonial times, wars of independence, the Spanish reconquest, the liberation campaign, civil wars, among others.
Books about the transformation of Medellín:
- Medellín: Tragedia y Resurrección by Gerard Martin
- Available languages: Spanish
- Amazon link
- Synopsis: The city of Medellín went through a period of extreme violence, being compared with the Chicago of Al Capone. The author seeks to reconstruct a timeline of the events that took place during this period and how the city was able to emerge from the chaos.
- Social Urbanism and the Politics of Violence: The Medellín Miracle by Kate Maclean.
- Available languages: English
- Amazon link
- Synopsis: Medellín used to be the most violent city on earth. In recent years, the city has experienced an impressive decline in violence due to its “social urbanism” approach to regeneration. The author explores the political processes behind the policies that have made possible the so-called “Medellín Miracle”.
Books about drugs:
- Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel by Tom Wainwright
- Available languages: English
- Amazon link
- Synopsis: Tom Wainwright provides a unique and eye-opening perspective on the drug trade. Through different characters, such as dealers and customers, the author reconstructs the machinery that runs behind this business and exposes how the war on drugs is doomed to fail but he also sheds light on how governments could solve it.
- The Candy Machine: How Cocaine Took Over the World by Tom Feiling
- Available languages: English
- Amazon link
- Synopsis: The author traces the historyof cocaine and its evolution in American politics and its market. Based on different points of view, he reconstructed the trade routes from Colombia via Miami, Kingston and Tijuana to London and New York.
- La Parábola de Pablo – by Alonso Salazar
- Available languages: Spanish
- Amazon link: Spanish version
Books written by Paisa authors:
- El olvido que seremos or Oblivion – by Héctor Abad Faciolince
- Available languages: Spanish and English
- Amazon link: Spanish version / English version
- Synopsis: Héctor Abad Faciolince’s memoir narrates the life and career of his father, Héctor Abad Gómez. Abad Gómez was a doctor, university professor and social leader whose criticism of the Colombian regime led to his murder by paramilitaries in 1987.
- Rosario Tijeras by Jorge Franco
- Available languages: Spanish and English
- Amazon link: Spanish version / English version
- Synopsis: Rosario Tijeras is a woman that has been abused her whole life. With a rough childhood, Rosario ends up caught up in the violence of the late 1980s, becoming a paid assassin, seducing men and killing them when they least expect it.
- Paraíso Travel by Jorge Franco
- Available languages: Spanish and English
- Amazon link: Spanish version / English version
- Synopsis: Reina and Marlon, a couple from Colombia, emigrate to the United States with the help of some stolen money and a couple of tickets booked through a shady agency. On their first night in New York, Marlon and Reina lose each other, leading Marlon to embark on the search for his girlfriend in the city’s underworld.
Books written by Colombian authors:
- El ruido de las cosas al caer by Juan Gabriel Vásquez
- Available languages: Spanish and English (The Sound of Things Falling)
- Amazon link: Spanish version / English version
- Synopsis: In this novel, narrated by law professor Antonio Yamara, friendships, family, and drugs intertwine. In a story that includes scenes from the 1960s to the 1990s, the reader unveils a world where drug wars destroyed society, leaving Colombia crumbling to pieces.
- El amor en los tiempos del cólera by Gabriel García Márquez
- Available languages: Spanish and English (Love in the Time of Cholera)
- Amazon link: Spanish version / English version
- Synopsis: A novel written by Colombian Nobel Prize-winning author narrates the love between Fermina and Florentino, a forbidden relationship due to social differences that endures the test of time.
- Cien Años de Soledad by Gabriel García Márquez
- Available languages: Spanish and English (One Hundred Years of Solitude)
- Amazon link: Spanish version / English version
- Synopsis: In a novel that blends political reality with magic realism, the author tells the story of the Buendía Family. In the middle of a fictional town, a microcosm of Colombian life unravels in what is considered one of the most original works of the twentieth century.
- Delirio by Laura Restrepo
- Available languages: Spanish and English (Delirium)
- Amazon link: Spanish version / English version
- Synopsis: When Aguilar, an ex-English professor, comes home after a four-day business trip, he discovers that while away, his wife Agustina endured an experience that made her lose her sanity. Aguilar embarks on a journey to find answers to rehabilitate his young and beautiful wife.
- La nieve del almirante by Álvaro Mutis
- Available languages: Spanish
- Amazon link
- Synopsis: Maqroll el Gaviero, the alter ego of the author Álvaro Mutis, is an old wandering sailor who travels the most remote ports and seas of the world. The author narrates his adventures in the first installment of this book series.
- La muerte del estratega by Álvaro Mutis
- Available languages: Spanish
- Amazon link
- Synopsis: Mutis combines in his book different styles: a short novel, essay, chronicle and prison diary. The book represents a profound reflection on life and death and how both exist simultaneously.
- El síndrome de Ulises by Santiago Gamboa
- Available languages: Spanish
- Amazon link
- Synopsis: A young aspiring writer that works as a dishwasher in a low-income Paris neighborhood tells the stories of his immigrant friends in a world filled with necessity, solitude and stigmatization.
- Satanás by Mario Mendoza
- Available languages: Spanish
- Amazon link
- Synopsis: Campo Elías Delgado, a Vietnam War veteran, killed his mother, his apartment building neighbors and 30 people in a high-end restaurant on December 4, 1986, before committing suicide. This novel narrates the life of Campo Elías and that of three of his victims.
We hope you have enjoyed our list!
