For those who are unfamiliar (or who haven’t seen Boardwalk Empire or The Untouchables), the Prohibition was the legal ban of alcohol in the United States from 1920-1933. It is difficult to believe there was a time when it was illegal to make, transport or sell alcohol for consumption in the United States. The main reason this book interested me was because I couldn’t imagine how this actually came to be. That Americans would ever agree to relinquish their booze was as improbable as it was astonishing.
Pulitzer Prize finalist and veteran editor Daniel Okrent does a very thorough job of compiling the events that led to this groundbreaking political action. The book reads like a research paper (I mean that in the best way) and is chock-full of interesting tidbits (my favorites are listed below). Keeping track of all the characters can be daunting, but the author does as well as he can by organizing them and placing them in a timeline for you.
Farther into the book, Okrent dissects speakeasies (New York alone had about 30,000), gangsters (infamous Al Capone and Lucky Luciano), and the extensive hypocrisy that tore through law enforcement. He proves that Prohibition not only failed to prevent the consumption of alcohol, but also led to the development of organized crime, increased violence, and massive political corruption.
Some interesting facts I’ll think you’ll drink up (pun intended):
In 1913, before Prohibition was put into effect, the government was concerned about losing all the revenue they made from liquor tax. Thus, they invented income tax. So when the nation became “dry”, the government still made money. Thanks?
President Woodrow Wilson vetoed the National Prohibition Act in 1919, but Congress passed it anyway.
So convinced were they that alcohol was the cause of virtually all crime that, on the eve of Prohibition, some towns actually sold their jails.
Famous enemies of alcohol: Leo Tolstoy, John D. Rockefeller, the KKK, George Bernard Shaw, and Jack London (actually an alcoholic, he voted yes for prohibition because he wanted “to be voted into sobriety”).
Heavy drinkers were known as whales.
A cigarette speedboat was developed out of rumrunners’ need to elude the Coast Guard & NASCAR was born from southerners who souped-up their cars to outrun the law.
The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed in 1933 by ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment, the only instance in United States history of a repeal of a constitutional amendment.
“What America needs now is a drink” declared President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the end of Prohibition.
Overall, I found the book intoxicating (again, pun intended). I think it’s an excellent read for all history buffs, or for those who want a reminder that the United States has a constitution.
Plus, when you read something historical, it pulls on your smart strings.
