A brilliant, authoritative, and fascinating history of America’s most puzzling era, the years 1920 to 1933, when the U.S. Constitution was amended to restrict one of America’s favorite pastimes: drinking alcoholic beverages. From its start, America has been awash in drink. The sailing vessel that brought John Winthrop to the shores of the New World in 1630 carried more beer than water. By the 1820s, liquor flowed so plentifully it was cheaper than tea. That Americans would ever agree to relinquish their booze was as improbable as it was astonishing. Yet we did, and Last Call is Daniel Okrent’s dazzling explanation of why we did it, what life under Prohibition was like, and how such an unprecedented degree of government interference in the private lives of Americans changed the country forever. Writing with both wit and historical acuity, Okrent reveals how Prohibition marked a confluence of diverse forces: the growing political power of the women’s suffrage movement, which allied itself with the antiliquor campaign; the fear of small-town, native-stock Protestants that they were losing control of their country to the immigrants of the large cities; the anti-German sentiment stoked by World War I; and a variety of other unlikely factors, ranging from the rise of the automobile to the advent of the income tax. Through it all, Americans kept drinking, going to remarkably creative lengths to smuggle, sell, conceal, and convivially (and sometimes fatally) imbibe their favorite intoxicants. Last Call is peopled with vivid characters of an astonishing variety: Susan B. Anthony and Billy Sunday, William Jennings Bryan and bootlegger Sam Bronfman, Pierre S. du Pont and H. L. Mencken, Meyer Lansky and the incredible—if long-forgotten—federal official Mabel Walker Willebrandt, who throughout the twenties was the most powerful woman in the country. (Perhaps most surprising of all is Okrent’s account of Joseph P. Kennedy’s legendary, and long-misunderstood, role in the liquor business.) It’s a book rich with stories from nearly all parts of the country. Okrent’s narrative runs through smoky Manhattan speakeasies, where relations between the sexes were changed forever; California vineyards busily producing “sacramental” wine; New England fishing communities that gave up fishing for the more lucrative rum-running business; and in Washington, the halls of Congress itself, where politicians who had voted for Prohibition drank openly and without apology. Last Call is capacious, meticulous, and thrillingly told. It stands as the most complete history of Prohibition ever written and confirms Daniel Okrent’s rank as a major American writer.

The next great ingredient in the craft cocktail revolution has arrived: craft beer. Bartender and cocktail consultant Jacob Grier offers up more than fifty thirst-quenching concoctions featuring beer. Long considered a beverage best enjoyed on its own, beer has now become a favorite ingredient for top bartenders around the world. In Cocktails on Tap, Grier collects the best of these contemporary creations alongside forgotten classics. While the Mai Ta-IPA adds a refreshing note to a tropical favorite, the Green Devil boosts a powerful Belgian beer with gin and a rinse of absinthe. In Cocktails on Tap, the vast range of today’s beers, from basic lagers to roasty stouts and sour Belgian ales, is shaken up for mixologists looking to add some spice—and hop—to their repertoire. “Grier is a masterful guide through the wickedly creative terrain of beer cocktails, offering not just delightful recipes, but history and cultural commentary, too. Connoisseurs and neophytes alike will find much to savor, and the latter will appreciate Jacob’s tutelage in cocktail basics. Grab a copy and start mixing!” —Maureen Ogle, author of Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer “Jacob Grier was at the forefront of the beer cocktail renaissance before many of us had ever contemplated the idea of a beer cocktail. His vast knowledge of beer and passionate dedication to this area of mixology is certain to push the craft of cocktails forward in a positive new direction.” —Jeffrey Morgenthaler, author of The Bar Book

Prostitution, gambling, moonshine and drugs could all be found behind closed the closed doors of Danville, VA from 1919 to 1933. During Prohibition, the "Law and Order League," of Danville was, of course, "dry," but the city's mayor was personally was known to be "personally wet," and in 1911 citizens were shocked to discover that the police chief was a fugitive from a murder conviction in Georgia. That same period saw lynching, murders and the wreck of the Old '97. HP authors Frankie Bailey and Alice Green will examine the law and disorder of Prohibition era Danville with Wicked Danville: Crime, Justice, and Prohibition in a Southside Virginia City.

Bondurant weaves a compelling tale of violence, desperation, and greed, as three brothers run moonshine in Virginia during prohibition, in this story that is based on a true story about the author's grandfather and two uncles.