I recently watched Ken Burns' PROHIBITION on PBS and chose to read BOOTLEG: MURDER, MOONSHINE, AND THE LAWLESS YEARS OF PROHIBITION after viewing it. The whole idea of the country completely outlawing something like alcohol seems so archaic. In an attempt to do away with drunkenness, prohibition actually encouraged lawless drinking and violent times, creating some of the most famous gangsters, such as Al Capone. BOOTLEG was informative, well organized and documented and told the story of a historic time in America.
I just recently saw the Ken Burns documentary as well. The idea that alcohol was blamed for so much misery and suffering during that time was hard to fathom. So many working so hard to outlaw it. Nowaday's alcohol does as much if not more damage what with problems like drunk driving. Yet very few raise their voices against it. We have flashy, sexy commercials that promote alcohol on TV now. The shift in the countries attitude is so stark and somewhat jarring.
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ReplyDeleteI recently watched Ken Burns' PROHIBITION on PBS and chose to read BOOTLEG: MURDER, MOONSHINE, AND THE LAWLESS YEARS OF PROHIBITION after viewing it. The whole idea of the country completely outlawing something like alcohol seems so archaic. In an attempt to do away with drunkenness, prohibition actually encouraged lawless drinking and violent times, creating some of the most famous gangsters, such as Al Capone. BOOTLEG was informative, well organized and documented and told the story of a historic time in America.
ReplyDeleteI just recently saw the Ken Burns documentary as well. The idea that alcohol was blamed for so much misery and suffering during that time was hard to fathom. So many working so hard to outlaw it. Nowaday's alcohol does as much if not more damage what with problems like drunk driving. Yet very few raise their voices against it. We have flashy, sexy commercials that promote alcohol on TV now. The shift in the countries attitude is so stark and somewhat jarring.
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