Prohibition: The 13 Years That Changed America (BBC Books)

by EdwardBehr (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1998

  $3.27

  Although the complete ban on the right to buy or sell alcoholic drink that began on 17 January 1920 was instigated to 'do America good', in effect it had the opposite result. Many Americans distilled moonshine from toxic substances in their baths, drank in speakeasies and smuggled illegal liquor. As the BBC 2 television series, on which this book is based, so eloquently showed, Prohibition bred corruption at all government and police levels, and turned Al Capone into Chicago's uncrowned king. Never has such a well-meaning measure provoked such crime and suffering. The Temperance lobbies and Anti-Saloon League had their way for over thirteen years: years which created deep intolerances, transformed the nation's morals and spread bribery, violence, cynicism and immorality from the gangsters of underworld to the highest office in the land. In his fascinating account of how Prohibition shaped modern-day America, Edward Behr recounts many shocking and compelling stories, including that of Geroge Remus, America's most successful bootlegger, who killed his wife, but still became a national hero.

• Used

  Hardcover
  1997

  $3.27

  Exploring the USA's 13 years of Prohibition from political, historical and cultural perspectives, this book discusses not only gangsters, speakeasies and two-tone shoes, but also other, more unusual stereotypes. Accounts by the Chicago-based criminal-lawyer-turned-bootlegger, George Remus, and Mabel Willebrandt of the Justice Department, who was determined to break Remus's power, are a significant part of the book. The author, a veteran journalist and war correspondent, also conducted interviews with people who were an intrinsic part of the Prohibition era.