The Roaring 20s is one of our most romanticized eras. We tend to look back on Prohibition as a golden time of freewheeling gangsters & gun-wielding G-men, all of whom really knew how to live. Edward Behr's comprehensive history of that time labors under no such misconceptions. Prohibition, as he expertly illustrates, was a period of rampant corruption maintained by vicious violence & widespread dishonesty. The central character in the story is bootlegger George Remus, who once recounted to the Senate how he was able to sell massive amounts of whiskey as medicine upon purchasing a license from US Attorney General Harry Daugherty. Readers of Prohibition will never look back on the '20s with quite the same naive pleasure.The good creature of God --Fervor and fanaticism --The women's war --The lineup --Prohibition's first victims --America goes dry --The providers --Harding and the racketeers --Remus unravels --The adventurers --"Prohibition works!" --"Prohibition doesn't work!" --Chicago --Remus on trial --Remus redux --A fatal triumph --The aftermath.
