I just finished reading "Last Call: the Rise and Fall of Prohibition", an amazing book by author Daniel Okrent.
The book is an entertaining, enlightening, often shocking look at the history behind the 18th Amendment, which basically outlawed anything and everything related to alcohol sales and consumption. Strange bedfellows as diverse as the Women's Suffrage League, the Baptist Church and the Ku Klux Klan banded together in a hugely failed attempt to eliminate booze comsumption in the U.S. Prohibition brought about the start of Gangster culture as we know it, as criminals and legit businessmen became rich providing Americans with the banned booze.
Okrent's book is and extremely enjoyable read. He knows how to tell a story, and the characters (from Carry Nation, to Joe Kennedy, to Meyer Lansky) come to life. I highly recommend it!
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