Our Man in Panama

One consequence of the recent U.S. invasion of Panama has been that this book was rushed into print, with no preview copies, for a March 1990 publication date. Dinges, who reports for National Public Radio, describes in considerable detail the fascinating and appalling relationship between Noriega and the U.S. government. Much of this material was derived from previously classified documents, supplemented by Congressional hearings and interviews. Dinges has taken great care to verify his sources; hearsay, gossip, and questionable testimony is not presented here. Although light on analysis, this work takes a generally critical view of the U.S. involvement in Panamanian affairs. The 1989 invasion is briefly discussed in the book's epilog. A similar study, Wall Street Journal reporter Frederick Kempe's "Divorcing the Dictator: America's Bungled Affair with Noriega" (rushed into a February 1990 release by Putnam) provides a fuller account of the invasion and capture of Noriega.