(Square Fish, 170 pp.)
The prohibition of alcohol sales and production in the United States led to 14 years of widespread defiance in which bootlegging, speakeasies, and criminals like Al Capone proved the folly of the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution. 鈥淏ootleg鈥� recounts this rocky era in American history.
Here's an excerpt from the book:
鈥淲hile the war overseas drained the resources of America鈥檚 closest allies, at home it gave the drys the crucial ammunition to finish their own battle. First, Americans began to reject anything German as tainted, including the nation鈥檚 more than 1,200 mostly German-American breweries. The drys portrayed any support for beer or brewers as truly unpatriotic. Then there was a more practical problem: American allies were desperately short of food. Several nations banned or cut back the manufacture of alcoholic beverages to preserve grains and open up railcars for transporting other much-needed items. America, the drys argued, needed to do the same.鈥�
