Book Description
In 1919, the United States embarked on the country's boldest attempt at moral and social reform: Prohibition. The 18th Amendment to the Constitution prohibited the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol around the country. This "noble experiment," as President Hoover called it, was intended to usher in a healthier, more moral, and more efficient society. Nowhere was such reform needed more, proponents argued, than in New York City--and nowhere did Prohibition fail more spectacularly. Dry Manhattan is the first major work on Prohibition in nearly a quarter century, and the only full history of Prohibition in the era's most vibrant city.
Though New Yorkers were cautiously optimistic at first, Prohibition quickly degenerated into a deeply felt clash of cultures that utterly transformed life in the city. Impossible to enforce, the ban created vibrant new markets for illegal alcohol, spawned corruption and crime, fostered an exhilarating culture of speakeasies and nightclubs, and exposed the nation's deep prejudices. Writ large, the conflict over Prohibition, Michael Lerner demonstrates, was about much more than the freedom to drink. It was a battle between competing visions of the United States, pitting wets against drys, immigrants against old stock Americans, Catholics and Jews against Protestants, and proponents of personal liberty against advocates of societal reform.
In his evocative history, Lerner reveals Prohibition to be the defining issue of the era, the first major "culture war" of the twentieth century, and a harbinger of the social and moral debates that divide America even today.
Customer Reviews:
Good speed reading practice.......2007-10-04
Lerner has a fascinating story to tell, and he tells it over and over, repeating himself three and four times on every page. He seems to believe that if something is worth saying, it's worth saying again and again, with very minor variations.
There is much interesting material in this book, as the previous reviewers have noted, but I heard most of it in a few minutes when Lerner appeared on WNYC with Leonard Lopate. I learned some things from reading the book: Prohibition was viewed as a nuisance to be ignored by lots of New Yorkers until bootleggers started to shoot each other and innocent bystanders; repealing Prohibition provided work for a significant number of people during the Depression; Franklin Roosevelt became a strong leader only after he was elected President; Herbert Hoover was paralyzed in office by his political beliefs.
But this book was so tedious to read! Lerner's style is flabby; he can't write a follow-up sentence without repeating most of the previous one; the 300 pages could fit into a 30 page monograph. Slogging through it made me wish I could speed-read.
Fascinating and informative -- definitely worth a read........2007-04-22
Lerner's fascinating book brings the period of prohibition to life -- from the early days of temperance campaigning, to prohibition's final undoing more than a decade later. Stories of individual people on all sides of the issue bring the book to life, making the it fun to read. And Lerner doesn't try to draw parallels to present day politics -- he lets you do that for yourself.
In an engaging, well-flowing narrative, Lerner covers prohibition from beginning to end, focusing on New York City. It was there that the dry campaign won an improbable victory, deftly manipulating the political system to secure a ratification that was not supported by popular opinion. Lerner describes a series of failed efforts to enforce prohibition in New York City. He shows how bigotry against immigrant groups was used to maintain support for prohibition. He chronicles a political climate in which anti-prohibition politicians were effectively silenced by prohibition advocates. And most interestingly, Lerner describes the role that women played in ultimately bringing prohibition to an end.
The book is meticulously researched (and heavily footnoted), but does not have the dry, academic feel of many history texts. Instead, Lerner enlivens the pages with anecdotes from prohibition agents, bartenders, managers of speakeasies, "jazz age" journalists, and New Yorkers of all social statuses.
If you read the footnotes, you will see that he draws these vignettes from an incredible variety of primary sources -- police records, notes of prohibition campaigners, newspapers and magazines of the day, court records and more. The effect is a rich tapestry of personal stories -- one that flows with his narrative and truly reflects the diversity of New York city.
Lerner wisely avoids drawing comparison to current-day politics. Instead, he leaves it to you to connect the dots. There are powerful lessons about how our political system can be manipulated, and how attempts to legislate morality in a democracy are misguided. But he leaves these conclusions for you to make.
Fascinating and informative -- definitely worth a read.
A Fascinating Look at the "Noble Experiment".......2007-04-04
A well written look at prohibition that provides good perspective from the wet and dry, working class and society and black and white sides. It flows smoothly with excellent portraits of the key figures in the city and the nation and is filled with entertaining anecodotes about this unusual time. Well worth a read.
Book Description
" The Night Club Era should rate as a Broadway Koran. Other books on the subject are unnecessary if they agree with it, wrong if they differ from it, and in either case should be burned." -- Alva Johnston, from the Introduction
Written in the aftermath of Prohibition, Stanley Walker's The Night Club Era is a lively and idiosyncratic account of the people and places that defined New York's night life during the era of "the great American madness." Here we meet murderers and millionaires, gangsters, bartenders, celebrities of the stage, screen, and society, and a host of other colorful characters who populated the city's diverse night clubs, from El Fey to the Cotton Club. Walker relives the "night of incredulous sadness" on which the Volstead Act went into effect, visits a classic speakeasy, discussing the owner's delicate arrangements with policemen, prohibition agents, and bootleggers, and details the frequently brutal swindles practiced in the city's numerous clip joints and the tactics of the era's crime organizations, explaining precisely what happens when one is "taken for a ride." Among the larger-than-life night club habitués Walker sketches are Owney Madden, the elder statesman of the city's rackets; Walter Winchell, America's most influential columnist and the "brash historian of our life and times"; Mayor James J. Walker, who typified the gaudiness, smartness, and insouciance of the city he ran, yet was never too refined to shoot dice on hotel room floors; and Texas Guinan, the beloved entertainer, hostess, and entrepreneur who greeted customers with her trademark phrase "Hello, sucker!" Vividly told, The Night Club Era offers a singular, serious -- though never sober -- history of New York City during Prohibition.
Average customer rating:
- It's not a duck, but it's black...
- Mega Hit-
- Courtesy of Teens Read Too
- School Librarians, promote this book.
- Once you start the Black Duck, you will have to finish.
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Black Duck
Janet Taylor Lisle
Manufacturer: Philomel
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ASIN: 0399239634 |
Book Description
When Ruben and Jed find the dead body on the Rhode Island shore, they are certain it has something to do with smuggling liquor. It is the l920's, Prohibition is in full swing, and almost everyone in the shore community is involved. Suddenly, the boys find themselves involved as well: Didn't the dead man have something on him, and didn't they take it? It isn't long before Ruben is actually on the legendary Black Duck itself, caught in a war between two of the most ferocious prohibition gangs.
Filled with resounding mystery and suspense by Newbery Honor winner Janet Taylor Lisle, Black Duck is original, gripping historical fiction.
Customer Reviews:
It's not a duck, but it's black..........2007-09-29
Black Duck
By Janet Taylor Lisle
No, it has nothing to do with ducks that are black. This book is a work of historical fiction that is inspired by Prohibition, when liquor was illegal and there were many "rumrunners" smuggling liquor all the time for profit, and the Black Duck, a legendary rum-running boat that smuggled liquor in the shores of New England. Lisle has taken these events and from it, has made an action-packed story of the famous ship.
In this story, there is a young teenager named David Peterson who wants to become a reporter. It is when he runs into an old man named Ruben Hart, who was involved with the rum-running business. David, who is interested in Prohibition, asks Ruben about the days, and Ruben then begins his tale of money, death, gangs, and of course, the Black Duck.
The author has written this story as an interview, which is what the story is. Either the story is in third person, when David is interviewing Ruben, or in first person, when Ruben is telling his tale of the Black Duck. The book also reminds me a bit of Star Wars, because in it a young boy is drawn into a huge conflict, in which a lot of people are captured, killed, and are chased around by bad guys, which is like this book.
I enjoyed reading this book because in every chapter something that you're not expecting happens, and important information is often blocked off by dialogue between David and Ruben, making you want to know what happens. I would give this book a 4 out of 5, because it is colorful and exciting. Thank you for reading this report on Black Duck by Janet Taylor Lisle, and we'll hope to see you again soon!
Mega Hit-.......2007-05-15
Oh, my Gosh! This is an awesome book. I actually found it by mishap as I was looking for a book to read with my students about the 1920s. It was perfect. The setting of book is the East coast during the heights of rum running. The characters in the book are well developed and in the end there are not really any super surprises but it was a success with my students. They couldn't wait to read everyday. There is plenty of opportunity to discuss critical thinking with the students especially why Jeddy decides to take it upon himself to follow in the footsteps of his father, the local police chief. I think it would be great if someone could make this into a film. For teachers, the beginning goes a bit slow but it picks up and actually become quite dramtic in the end. Great books if you want an alternate for middle school students to F.S. Fitzgerald regarding what it was like in the 20's during Prohibition.
Courtesy of Teens Read Too.......2007-02-16
David's dream is to become a reporter. His father wants him to help run the family landscaping business.
David's dream leads him to a man, Ruban, with possible connections to the Black Duck, the famous rum-running boat during the prohibition in Rhode Island.
David tells Ruban that he's a senior in high school and might get published in the local newspaper. In reality, David is just starting his freshman year. Ruban reluctantly tells David some facts about the town during the time period, starting with the day that he and his best friend, Jeddy, found a dead body on the beach. When they went to alert the authorities, the body disappeared and the boys were warned not to talk about it.
Over the course of several visits, Ruban tells more of the story to David. Ruban's initial curiosity led him down a different path than Jeddy, as he wanted to know more about the body, more about the rum-runners, and even wanted to lend a hand. Soon he and Jeddy were at odds over the rum business. What started as an innocent curiosity led Ruban into danger that neither boy could have imagined.
BLACK DUCK blends worlds with the interruptions between David's questions and Ruban's story. While Jeddy and Ruban had an amazing story, Ruban feels that the whole story isn't his to tell and that Jeddy owns a piece of it. However, with Jeddy dying, Ruban clears his mind of guilt and finishes the tale.
BLACK DUCK is a unique historical fiction novel that will engage readers.
Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel
School Librarians, promote this book........2006-12-02
More than a mystery, this is an achingly beautiful story. It's one of those books that falls into the AR 4 range yet is powerful enough to satisfy any reader. This would be a fine book club choice. Even though the little twist at the end is predictable, it still works. I'm charmed yet mystified by the alternative spelling of "doctor," but why nitpick? I'll be booktalking this one for years.
Once you start the Black Duck, you will have to finish........2006-10-02
The story begins with David, a freshman in highschool, who is pressured by his parents to get a job in the family gardening business. However, David strives to become a proffesional journalist. Reading an article on the Black Duck, a famous local rumrunning ship, he decides to track down a suspected rumrunner in the Prohibition era, Ruben Hart for an interview.
The story begins slowly, with David convincing Mr. Hart for that interview, but gradually builds suspense. Mr. Hart tells his story in rememberance of his childhood.
Mr. Harts story involves himself in his younger age, and his best friend Jeddy, the local police chief's son. Together, they stumble across a dead body in a beach that was shot in the neck. After calling the local police, they are told to go home. Mysteriously, when the local police, Ruben, Jeddy, and family arrive, the body is gone with no traces, tracks, or explaination. The police and Ruben and Jeddy's family think that Ruben and Jeddy are lying, so they throw responsibilities at them (jobs, chores, etc.).
The story continues as Ruben and Jeddy search for the cause of the missing body, leading to them to a plethora of characters. From gangster muscles, to incredibly unlucky Tom Morrison, to suspicious police, to local smugglers, you do not want to miss Janet Taylor Lisle's Black Duck.
Customer Reviews:
Somewhat useful.......2005-10-15
The book is mainly in a dictionary style. This means that related details are not grouped together by topic but alphabetized so the onus is on you to piece together an image or understanding as you read. The book contains no illustrations or pictures, either, of any of the fashions, uniforms, vehicles, or other items being described. I wouldn't use it as a primary resource, or even an introduction, but I *would* use it to quickly look up a specific word or phrase, or perhaps for writing dialogue.
(I've owned many of Mr. McCutcheon's books, and once again I'm going to fault him for lacking an index.)
Great series.......2001-03-17
Not just for writers, but historians, hobbyists, and anyone interested in the small details of life in other times. This volume, like the others in the series, includes chapters (with figures and illustrations) on food, clothing, family life, work, education, religion, leisure activities, social and political history, etc. Great for browsing, great for research. Well recommended.
A MUST HAVE.......2000-02-19
Even if your novel takes place in a time period just before or just after 1919-1945, chances are good that your characters and events will be or were affected by this era in American History. Being so well laid out and written with great wit and affection makes it a great read for anyone interested in nostalgia or for those looking to stir up and bring back some memories of their own.
The one book you need if you're writing about this period........1999-04-28
If you're doing a novel or short story set in the 1930s or 40s, get this book and keep it at hand. It will save you from the kind of screaming anachronisms that any seasoned reader of period fiction can spot at fifty paces.
Excellent Resource for Beginning Your Research!.......1999-03-18
Once again through the myriad of the time, the author guides you through the life, the words, and the advents of an age before most of our lives began. Thorough, thought-provoking, and full of nostalgic trivia. Even seasoned writers will find some interesting things to use in your novel. Sublimely titled and studded with perspiring facts and exciting surprises.
Cameron Rowe
Product Description
"We never shoot unless we know who is present," gang boss Tom Egan declared in a candid interview with a leading St. Louis newspaper. Just who was this man who could boast in public about ordering murder? After nearly a century, the story of Egan's Rats can finally be told: how a group of Victorian-era street punks mushroomed into a powerful force that controlled Missouri's largest city for nearly thirty years.
Led by two childhood pals, Thomas "Snake" Kinney and Tom Egan, the Rats emerged from the city's Irish slums. They learned their trade the old-fashioned way, via robberies, brawls, burglaries, anad shootings. When Kinney ran on the Democratic ticket in the Third Ward, his friends were at the polls to ensure he got enough votes. For nearly ten years the gang cut a large swath in St. Louis, instilling fear wherever it went. With Snake Kinney a Missouri state senator, and Tom Egan St. Louis's most dangerous gangster, the gang boasted nearly 400 members. Nearly everyone who lived in St. Louis was touched by them in some way or another.
Soon the Rats became overconfident and careless, beginning with a public shooting war against a gang led by Missouri beverage inspector Edward "Jelly Roll" Hogan. When the once fearful public grew tired of theh gangs, their leadership ended up in federal prison for twenty-five years, largely on the testimony of one of their own who turned state's evidence in fear for his life.
Egan's Rats provides a fascinating glimpse into a past that wasn't always idyllic. It was an era in which roving gangs of thugs terrorized voters with impunity, when alcohol was illegal, when a gangster could brag of his power in the newspaper, and when the tendrils of St. Louis crime reached all the way into the White House.
Customer Reviews:
A novel that will delight history lovers.......2007-08-24
Reviewed by Leslie Granier for Reader Views (8/07)
"Egan's Rats" is a novel that will delight history lovers and anyone who is interested in the roots of gangster activity in St. Louis. This book chronicles the actions of a group known as Egan's Rats (so named for Tom Egan who was their original leader) as well as a few lesser competitors who attempted to gain some of the power held by the Egan gang.
The accounts cover the time span of the late 1800s through the times of Al Capone, probably the most famous gangster ever.
Daniel Waugh provides a very detailed and specific record of the criminal activities that were prevalent in this time, such as bootlegging, bank heists and kidnapping. The widespread political corruption that existed during this period and its connection to the gangs was examined.
I found it interesting that although the police often knew who had committed particular crimes, the accused were often released due to lack of evidence or were acquitted after a trial. In fact, the gangs themselves internally did more to eliminate their own members than did law enforcement or rival gangs. It was surprising to learn that the Rats in the beginning were not particularly a violent pack towards the public as most gangsters are portrayed on television and in the movies. They actually often left their victims unharmed as long as they were cooperative.
I enjoyed learning about some of the colorful nicknames that were given to the gang members. I also appreciated the section at the end of the book that discussed what became of several of the central figures after the gangs were all but disbanded. At times during this narrative, I felt the author spent too much time listing the names of gang members who were really minor players in these escapades, making it difficult for the reader to remember with which side the person was affiliated.
I believe it would have been better to focus on a few major figures. "Egan's Rats" provides a thorough and well-written history of gang activity in the Midwest and its impact on the population during the time of prohibition. It also offers a comprehensive review of the major players in the underground crime world. The interesting facts and background stories provide an enjoyable reading experience.
A gangster haven revealed in roots of the past.......2007-07-16
The Egan's Rats were a legendary force to be reckoned with at the early part of the 20th Century in St. Louis. Had they been active in, say, New York City, you would have already had many organized-crime history books written about them. But since they hailed from the heartland of America, gangster historians (for the most part) ignored their escapades for bigger game. If not for the outstanding researching and writing skills of author and historian Daniel Waugh, their true, complete history would probably have remained buried in the past. This book blows open the truth in chilling detail about the most powerful criminal organization ever to strut its stuff on the streets of the Gateway City.
You'll read about the Egan brothers, Snake Kinney, and Dint Colbeck, the dominating leaders of this mega-gang from the early 1890s to the mid-1920s. You'll read about the politicians that first put them on their payroll and later protected their rackets in return for muscling out the votes at election time. You'll read about homicidal maniacs like Chippy Robinson, who probably killed more people than most Murder Incorporated hitmen.
The Egan's Rats rose to power on the backs of politicians and the blood of others, and their downfall lay at the feet of its leaders' quest for the quick, easy buck and the testimony of a turncoat who could have taught Joe Valachi a thing or two about how to be an effective cooperating witness.
This is by far the best book written about organized crime this year (and perhaps in the past several years), and this book will be the defining backbone to any future books written about the history of the underworld in St. Louis.
Untold No More: An Essential Work of Gangland History.......2007-07-01
Far too many organized crime books are narrowly focused on New York and Chicago, as if nothing of any consequence ever happened in the underworlds of other cities. St Louis has a gangster past just as colorful and violent and indeed supplied many of the killers who made the Twenties roar in other urban battlegrounds around the nation. Many books mention Egan's Rats as the premier St. Louis gang but provide little and usually erroneous detail. Dan Waugh, a native St. Louisan, a fantastic researcher, and a wonderful writer, has corrected this with an incredibly in-depth and entertaining history of the gang. Stretching from its 1890s roots as saloon toughs in the employ of politician "Snake" Kinney right on through the bloody Prohibition gang wars and the million-dollar mail robberies that brought the gang down, and the exodus of ex-Rats to the gang war scenes of New York, Detroit, and Chicago, it's an action-packed history that's long overdue. This is also Waugh's debut as a published author but from I've seen he's already a powerhouse contender when it comes to crime history.
Book Description
173 Cocktail Recipes from before America's Prohibition Era including numerous absinthe, champagne cocktail, julep, pousse, cobbler, and punch recipes. Book includes a resource page for ordering ingredients, 20 fun facts and stories about drink in history (George Washington's favorite drink, why Ben Franklin "flipped," how Winston Churchill's mother inspired a New York bartender to create the Manhattan, a 1913 scandal of the "I didn't inhale" variety involving Teddy Roosevelt, and over 40 turn-of-the-20th-Century beverage-related advertisements, illustrations, railroad beverage menus, and quotes. Introduction by George Herbert Walker (grandfather of former President George Herbert Walker and great-grandfather of current President George Walker Bush).
Customer Reviews:
A "must" for anyone who enjoys mixing their own drinks.......2001-08-11
The only beverage book that includes lost and almost-lost cocktail recipes from before 1920, 173 Pre-Prohibition Cocktails: Potations So Good They Scandalized A President is an amazing glimpse into the history of liquor in America, as well as a collection of so many different drink preparations that even the most gregarious connoisseur is certain to find something new and especially intoxicating. In addition to the drink mixes themselves, this book also memorializes the life and times of the recipes' original author, Tom Bullock (1872-1964), the first African-American to write a drink book. Present-day co-author D. J. Frienz has added over 40 illustrations, 20 pages of little-known facts about the history of drinking, and suggestions as to where to purchase ingredients that might be hard to come by. 173 Pre-Prohibition Cocktails is a "must" for anyone who enjoys mixing their own drinks, or is searching for a new taste in their cocktail glass.
173 Pre-Prohibition Cocktails.......2001-06-22
Includes 7 absinthe recipes and a handy reference guide for ordering it over the internet. Just what I needed after seeing Moulin Rouge!
"A Book Of History And Of Longing".......2001-03-01
"Like a great civilization, the cocktail flourished, went out of fashion, and faded. These are recipes from the great exodus." says Mark Brown, Food Writer at The Tulsa World. "You never really miss something," says Tom Rush, bartender,"until you don't have it." "D. J. Frienz found Rufus Estes in her mother's kitchen. But to find Tom Bullock, she had to go online. There was just something about Estes' 1911 cookbook. Gravy-splattered and grease-spotted, it told a story that Frienz couldn't let die. In 1999, she published "Good Things To Eat As Suggested By Rufus" so it wouldn't. . . . . This time, it's Bullock and his 1917 recipes from 'The Ideal Bartender.' It's a remarkable collection of cocktail recipes from a remarkable, if mysterious, barman. Up to and perhaps beyond Prohibition, Bullock mixed drinks at the St. Louis Country Club and the Pendennis Club of Louisville and was quite revered for it." "Behind the bar at the St. Louis Country Club, Bullock shook cocktails for such drinkers as Teddy Roosevelt and George Herbert Walker. Sound familiar? His great-grandson is your new president." . . . . Frienz' "concoction is '173 Pre-Prohibition Cocktails." As with Estes, she's taken Bullock's original text and shaken it up with anecdotes, quotes, sources and all sorts of imagery from the cocktail's primevil period. It's a longing for the classics that inspired her." "I love things that last," Frienz said, "things that are deep and have meaning. A perfect cocktail is a beautiful thing." . . . . . "Somewhere in St. Louis, his [Tom Bullock's] old house still stands. Like the cocktail of pre-Prohibition America, it's all but condemned."
Book Description
A balanced and sophisticated analysis of the true costs, benefits, and consequences of enforcing drug prohibition is presented in this book. Miron argues that prohibition's effects on drug use have been modest and that prohibition has numerous side effects, most of them highly undesirable. In particular, prohibition is shown to directly increase violent crime, even in cases where it deters drug use. Miron's analysis leads to a disturbing finding-the more resources given to the fight against drugs, the greater the homicide rate. The costs and benefits of several alternatives to the war on drugs are examined. The conclusion is unequivocal and states that any of the most widely discussed alternatives is likely to be a substantial improvement over current policy.
Customer Reviews:
At War With Ourselves.......2004-12-23
The interesting thing about economics is the lack of emphasis on intention. Economists don't care what the intent of the policy is, only the outcome. The result of this all-consuming focus is that economic analyses have a fascinating way of seeing past wishful thinking. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Jeffrey Miron's analysis of narcotics prohibition, Drug War Crimes: the Consequences of Prohibition. Nearly everyone agrees that the United States has a drug problem, and our government arrests 1.5 million people a year fighting it. Is prohibition making the problem worse?
Miron certainly thinks so. Although the book is nominally objective, Miron's personal opinions on the issue are clear. This is not necessarily a criticism - to paraphrase Howard Zinn's argument in A People's History of the United States, the large body of evidence that has been built up in support of drug prohibition compels a one-sided account in order to balance the scales.
The argument goes like this: abridging the rights of citizens to use drugs is morally questionable in the first place; even if you decide that eliminating drug use is a noble aim of the government, the negative consequences of prohibition outweigh its positives; even if they didn't, outright prohibition is the worst way to go about achieving this goal. So why do we spend $33 billion a year on it?
Many negative effects of drug use are self-evident, such as increased corruption, the spread of infectious disease through the sharing of needles, and the transfer of wealth to criminals. Two questions, however, warrant extended analysis: To what extent does prohibition lower consumption? And what is the effect of prohibition on violence? Miron's analysis suggests that prohibition reduces consumption by only about 20%, while leading to dramatic increases in violence.
Some of these arguments are quite convincing, others aren't, while still others are neither, either due to moral subjectivity or to a lack of data. Nearly all of them, however, are thought provoking, and some are shocking. In an example rich with parallels to drug prohibition, Miron describes actions taken by the U.S. government during the 1920s. Knowing that individuals would attempt to use industrial alcohol to produce moonshine, congress ordered industries to change their method of alcohol production, making it unsuitable for ingestion. While their decision to poison their own citizens probably convinced some not to brew their own alcohol, thousands of others became ill or died.
As an example of the tenor of Drug War Crimes, consider the section exploring the idea of rational drug. The section argues that the negative effects of many drugs have been widely exaggerated. In support of this assertion, Miron cites a study of the consumers of certain products, including narcotics. The study finds that the percentage of consumers still using narcotics five years after the study began is similar to that of many legal products. Miron then concludes that heroin, say, is roughly as addictive as chocolate. Given the considerable legal, social, and health incentives to quit using drugs, this hardly seems a reasonable conclusion. But it's interesting, and it's an argument no one else is making.
A larger problem with the analysis is that the case against prohibition is, to some extent, academic. Every country on earth prohibits drugs; if any country were to change that policy, it would become a worldwide drug factory, not to mention violate international law and trade agreements.
Nevertheless, Miron didn't set out to write a book about politics - he wrote a policy analysis, and while his lack of neutrality will surely bother some readers, his overall conclusions are sound. He knows that in many of his arguments, there is no clear answer. The point is that "prohibition has enormous costs with, at best, modest and speculative benefits.... The goals of prohibition are questionable, the methods unsound, and the results are deadly." Given the available evidence, this appears undeniable. What to do instead is a tougher question.
Book Description
Follow up to Kavieff's best selling The Purple Gang, this book delves deeper into the Prohibition-Era gangs of the Detroit area.
Whereas the Purple Gang was a predominantly Jewish group, the crime organizations covered in this volume all come from different ethnic backgrounds. Each gang covered provides insight not only into their crime organization, but also into the ethnic origins of the region. For instance, the chapter on the Giannola/Vitale Mafia covers the origins of the war between the two gangs, which lasted from 1918 to 1921. It also covers the origins of the Italian Mafia-including the history of the dreaded "Black Hand"-and its enclave in the Detroit area. Among other famous area gangs included is the predominantly Irish "Legs" Laman mob and the "River Gang" whose leaders became the founders of Detroit's modern Mafia family.
Kavieff's first book, The Purple Gang, stayed on the Detroit bestseller list for months after its release. With this title Kavieff once again captures the flavor of the era and the region marvelously and is sure to captivate readers across the country
Customer Reviews:
Quick-moving, detailed survey of Detroit's gangs.......2007-01-30
Paul R. Kavieff handles his complex topic capably and professionally, providing us with a window into an active and influential Detroit underworld often neglected by other writers. The author of "The Purple Gang" broadens his focus for this, his second book, to explain in detail the activities and interrelationships of the Detroit area's significant Prohibition Era criminal organizations.
He discusses the warring factions of the Sicilian Mafia, as well as Polish and Irish ethnic gangs and the predominantly Jewish Purple Gang. He suggests credible causes for underworld conflicts, such as the Giannola-Vitale war, and shares the specifics of gang crimes and underworld hits.
Kavieff is not at all stingy with facts, but he still writes efficiently and keeps the story moving quickly - possibly a tad too quickly for a reader new to the subject. The book weighs in at just about 200 pages of easy-on-the-eyes type.
The Violent Years is a must-read for organized crime historians and those interested in the Motor City's past.
I still like "The Purples"!.......2006-08-03
To be honest, I gave this book 3 stars simply for the fact that it wasn't my kind of book. I read it because it was the 2nd volume from Paul Kavieff. I thought the book was good, but there were too many different crews, accounts, details for me to follow. Not to compare, but I liked the book about The Purple Gang better. It focused on the one gang and really dove into their dealings. I don't doubt that this book is well documented, I just think it had too many details for me to really get involved.
On the other hand, to bring out a few good points, the book starts off discussing how the mafia came about, and how they had no use for authority figures when Sicilians 1st immigrated to the USA. It showed how in Italy, the mafia boss was more powerful/influential than the government (thus showing the lack of importance for government officials from the very beginning). This was interesting to see the origin of certain rules, how people think, for what reason, etc...
Then we read about "The Black Hand Extortion Racket" (receiving money for protection) which is explained in detail. It gave a quick summary of The Purple Gang which I enjoyed. To think they had a loose organization of 200 guys in 1925 (then again, they held control for such a short period of time) - remarkable history! The book also explains "The Snatch Racket" which involved kidnapping racketeers for ransom (something I never heard/or even thought of until now)! Overall, a decent book, I just wanted more flow, but I guess that's difficult when you're covering so many different gangs...
The Violent Years: Prohibition and the Detroit Mobs.......2003-09-04
An excellent history of the Detroit underworld and a necessary book for any serious crime historian. Kavieff brings the material to life in a way that makes the reader feel as if they are at the scene of the crime. This book as well as Kavieff's first book The Purple Gang: Organized crime in Detroit 1910-1945 are the only histories ever written on the Detroit underworld of any period. The Prohibition era focus is most appropriate as Prohibition bankrolled modern organized crime
The Violent Years: Prohibition and the Detroit Mobs.......2003-09-04
An excellent history of the Detroit underworld and a necessary book for any serious crime historian. Kavieff brings the material to life in a way that makes the reader feel as if they are at the scene of the crime. This book as well as Kavieff's first book The Purple Gang: Organized crime in Detroit 1910-1945 are the only histories ever written on the Detroit underworld of any period. The Prohibition era focus is most appropriate as Prohibition bankrolled modern organized crime
Beyond the Purple Gang.......2002-10-03
This is a great successor and companion to Kavieff's previous volume, The Purple Gang, and an even better book than its predecessor. Covers the Mafia factions who succeeded the Purples as masters of Detroit's underworld and various independent mobs, some unheralded since their last appearances in 1930's vintage detective magazines, such as "Legs" Laman's kidnapping gang, or the "Flatheads" gang headed by Paul Jaworski who committed the nation's first armored car robbery. Violent crimes have soared in volume over the years but for sheer audacity "crime in the streets" pales in comparison to the 1920's and The Violent Years captures this spirit better than any book I've seen in a long while.
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Alcohol and public policy: Beyond the shadow of prohibition
Manufacturer: National Academy Press
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Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: 0309031494 |
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The Formation of Nabataean Art: Prohibition of a Graven Image Among the Nabataeans (Ancient Near East)
Joseph Patrich
Manufacturer: Brill Academic Pub
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ASIN: 9004092854 |
Book Description
It is well known that during the Second Temple period the Jews of Judea strictly observed the injunction against graven images. Although the Jews borrowed techniques and artistic styles from the surrounding Hellenistic-Roman culture, they abstained from using images in their art. What is less well known is that, during the same period a similar phenomenon was taking place in the adjacent Arab kingdom of Nabatea, and this despite the fact that, unlike the monotheistic Jews, the Nabateans worshipped many deities. In both kingdoms political independence went hand in hand with a cultural independence that expressed itself in religion, language, script and art. Although continuity with iconoclastic Judea may have had some influence on Nabatean steadfastness to tradition under pressure from the dominant Hellenistic-Roman culture, it appears that their abstract perception of their gods and disregard for figurative art were innate, growing out of a particular theological doctrine. The principles of that doctrine have not been preserved, but we can deduce its existence - and to a lesser degree, its nature - on the basis of certain archaeological discoveries that we will discuss here subsequently. ; Unlike the common practice both in the Greco-Roman West and in the Parthian East, to accord the gods a human form, the Nabateans represented their gods in the form of a stele. The abstract manner in which they perceived the form of their deities, affected their approach towards figurative art. A systematic survey of Nabatean art indicates that negation of figurative art is evident in all domains of their creativity. Hundreds of years before the Nabatean civilization, but in this same geographical area, there was a similar religious and artistic phenomenon of venerating stele gods and negating figurative art among another Arabian tribe, which scholars tend to identify with the biblical Midianites. The same spiritual wellsprings that nourished a nonfigurative tradition among the North Arabian tribes for hundreds of years - first the Midianites and then the Nabateans - ultimately resurfaced, nourishing the nonfigurative tendency we see in Islamic Arabian art. This book examines the origins of prohibition of a graven image among the Nabateans, its effect on all facets of Nabatean art and its subsequent influence on Islamic art several hundred years hence. The implications for the history both of ancient religions and art lend to Nabatean
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