Mr. Nice: An Autobiography

What an extraordinary fellow Howard Marks is. His autobiography takes him from his South Wales childhood and Oxford University education through his life dealing marijuana and the enormous mythology that accrued around what the tabloids called "the English Toff Drugs King of the World". This book is called Mr Nice after one of the many aliases Marks's life as a merchant of pot obliged him to assume, but it describes him perfectly too: the epitome of British niceness, the nicest international criminal you could hope to meet. It's not hard to see why this has become a cult book--Marks is a brilliant version of a mate down the pub, telling you the gobsmacking stories of his many adventured life. The writing is direct and the narrative will detain you as comprehensively as Marks himself was detained for seven years at Terre Haut Penitentiary, Indiana. He was released the same day as Mike Tyson. "I had," he observes mildly, "been continuously in prison for the last six-and-a-half years for transporting beneficial herbs from one place to another, while he had done three years for rape." Truly there is no justice; but there are eye-popping adventures, hilarious touches and a thorough-going wisdom in this excellent book. 21ST ANNIVERSARY EDITION WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY IRVINE WELSH He was Britain's most wanted man. He spent seven years in America's toughest penitentiary. You'll like him. During the mid 1980s Howard Marks had forty three aliases, eighty nine phone lines and owned twenty five companies throughout the world. At the height of his career he was smuggling consignments of up to thirty tons of marijuana, and had contact with organisations as diverse as MI6, the CIA, the IRA and the Mafia. Following a worldwide operation by the Drug Enforcement Agency, he was arrested and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison at the Terre Haute Penitentiary, Indiana. He was released in April 1995 after serving seven years of his sentence. Told with humour, charm and candour, Mr Nice is his own extraordinary story. ' The story of a remarkable life , lived by the very brilliant and exceptionally wonderful Mr Nice' Irvine Welsh 'Frequently hilarious , occasionally sad, and often surreal' GQ 'A man who makes Peter Pan look like a geriatric ' Loaded ' A folk legend ' Daily Mail THE BOOK: During the mid 1980's Howard Marks had forty three aliases, eighty nine phone lines and owned twenty five companies throughout the world. Whether bars, recording studios or offshore banks, all were money laundering vehicles serving the core activity: dope dealingMarks began to deal small amounts of hashish while doing a postgraduate philosopy course at Oxford and soon he was moving much larger quantities into Europe and into America the equipment of touring British rock bands. The academic life began to lose its allure. At the height of his career he was smuggling consignments of up to fifty tons from Pakistan and Thailand to America and Canada and had contact with organisations as diverse as MI6, the CIA, the IRA and the Mafia. Numerous newspaper profiles, books and television documentaries have been devoted to Howard Mark's life. Touched with humour charm and candour, Mr Nice is his own extraordinary story. During the mid 1980s Howard Marks had forty three aliases, eighty nine phone lines and owned twenty five companies throughout the world. Whether bars, recording studios or offshore banks, all were money laundering vehicles serving the core activity: dope dealing. Marks began to deal small amounts of hashish while doing a postgraduate philosophy course at Oxford, but soon he was moving much larger quantities. At the height of his career he was smuggling consignments of up to fifty tons from Pakistan and Thailand to America and Canada and had contact with organisations as diverse as MI6, the CIA, the IRA and the Mafia. Mr Nice is Howard Mark's extraordinary story During the mid 1980s Howard Marks had forty three aliases, eighty nine phone lines and owned twenty five companies throughout the world. At the height of his career he was smuggling consignments of up to thirty tons of marijuanna, and had contact with organisations as diverse as MI6, the CIA, the IRA and the Mafia. Following a worldwide operation by the Drug Enforcement Agency, he was busted and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison at the Terre Haute Penitentiary, Indiana. He was released in April 1995 after serving seven years of his sentence. Told with humour, charm and candour, Mr Nice is his own extraordinary story During the mid 1980s Howard Marks had43 aliases,89 phone lines, and owned25 companies throughout the world. Whether bars, recording studios, or offshore banks, all were money laundering vehicles serving the core activity: dope dealing. Marks began to deal small amounts of hashish while doing a postgraduate philosophy course at Oxford, but soon he was moving much larger quantities. At the height of his career he was smuggling consignments of up to50 tons from Pakistan and Thailand to America and Canada and had contact with organizations as diverse as MI6, the CIA, the IRA, and the Mafia.This is his extraordinary story. At the height of his powers, Howard Marks - or'Mr Nice'- was smuggling up to thirty tons of dope from Pakistan and Thailand to America and Canada. How did a nice Welsh boy and Oxford graduate end up with forty-three aliases, eighty-nine phone lines and twenty-five companies to his name, and contacts within MI6, the CIA, the IRA and the Mafia? Mr Nice is Howard Marks'staggering story of Britain's most wanted man: the dazzling ascent and crashing comedown of one of the twentieth century's most notorious and eccentric drug lords. Audacious, seductive and rambunctious, it is a true crime classic. The author was Britain's most wanted man. He spent seven years in America's toughest penitentiary. You'll like him. During the mid 1980s Howard Marks had forty three aliases, eighty nine phone lines and owned twenty five companies throughout the world. This title tells his story. The incredible story of an unconventional life During the mid 1980s Howard Marks had forty three aliases, eighty nine phone lines and owned twenty five companies throughout the world. Howard Marks. A Duplicate Copy Of This Title Was Part Of The Julio Mario Santo Domingo Collection, But Was Not Retained. Originally Published: London: Minerva, 1997. "He was Britain's most wanted man. He has just spent seven years in America's toughest penitentiary. You''ll like him."--Cover