Written by Old Lyme residents Jim Lampos and Michaelle Pearson, Rum Runners is an intricately researched, intriguing exploration of the beach communities from Griswold Point in the west to Point O' Woods in the east. Illustrations include a map of the Old Lyme shoreline, decades-old newspaper clippings and postcards, and original photographs. Paperback, 88 pages.

It was a whiskey-soaked age that was supposed to be dry. Prohibition may have been the law of the land, but hte Chesapeake Bay country was awash in a sea of illegal alcohol. The marshes were teeming with hidden stills, and bootleg liquor was smuggled throughout the waterways and the adjoining countryside by daring men in fast boats and faster cars. Chesapeake Rumrunners of the Roaring Twenties is a saga of people--watermen and steamer captains, mob raketeers and "legitimate" buisnessmen--all of them wanting part of the action. In the maze of Bay waters, boats played a key role in that action, many disguised as workboats but built for speed and the ability to out-maneuver the law. On the other side, Billy Sunday and an army of temerpance crusaders campaigned tirelessly to encourage Prohibition, while federal agents and Coast Guardsmen shared the impossible task of enforcing it.

AT FIRST IT WAS THE MONEY, THEN IT BECAME REVENGE. Summer, 1928, Rusty loses his job as a Lake Erie tugboat deckhand and can no longer afford his charter boat business. Out of work, out of hope and with a family to feed, he desperately turns to hauling grape juice for the mysterious Trapani clan despite his suspicions. After several successful trips, Al Trapani offers him an opportunity to run illegal alcohol from Canada. Rusty reluctantly agrees to try it just once. As Rusty slips into the underground world of rum running, he comes to realize he is losing far more than his principles-he is jeopardizing his marriage and his life. But getting out is not easy. Hunted by a sadistic renegade Coast Guard captain, Rusty soon finds himself in the captain's crosshair, forcing him to challenge not only his principles, but his perception of good and evil. The 1920s roar to life as Rusty's rum running legend grows. "With intense description and characters you'll love (or hate), R. C. Durkee holds readers on course and breezing through this engaging tale of love, wickedness, revenge and morality."-Rick Porrello, author of 'To Kill the Irishman, ' 'Best true-life crime caper since Goodfellas-San Francisco Examiner.' ..".a believable plot based on historical fact...brings history and events to life through Rusty's eyes and experiences. It's all these elements, wound into a satisfying and realistic story line backed by historical fact, that make Rum Run a winning account."-D. Donovan, Senior eBook Reviewer, Midwest Book Review. ..".a hit with boaters, Lyman owners and anyone who loves a good read."-Heidi Langer, Program Manager, LBOA.

Travel back to one of Florida's most colorful, violent, intoxicating, and fun chapters! Rum Runners and Moonshiners of Old Florida Volume Two: A Second Batch is the sequel to the acclaimed 2019 book, that showed the fun and inebriated side of the sunshine state's past. Released as part of a new Florida Squeeze book series, this new volume features new images, artwork, and cocktail recipes. Robert Buccellato is the author of seven books including Rum Runners and Moonshiners of Old Florida and Jimmy Carter in Plains.

On October 1, 1917, prohibition came into effect in the province of British Columbia. Washington and Oregon had gone dry the previous year. The ban on liquor sales led to deadly conflict and legal chaos in the Pacific Northwest, and the legacy of those “booze battles” continues into the 21st century. Rich Mole introduced readers to West Coast prohibition’s pioneer years in Scoundrels and Saloons: Whisky Wars of the Pacific Northwest, 1840–1917. In Rum-runners and Renegades, he recounts the wild and wacky—and sometimes tragic—results of later prohibition laws through the exploits of both prohibitionists and prohibition-busters, among them Jonathan Rogers, a wealthy Vancouver builder and prohibition leader; the Billingsley brothers, a quartet of handsome bootleggers from Seattle; and enterprising Johnny Schnarr, Victoria’s number-one rum-runner. From vicious marine hijackers and bedeviled police to corrupt politicians and frustrated drinkers on both sides of the border, this is an action-filled account of liquor and lawlessness on the West Coast.

On a fog shrouded night in September 1944, an oceangoing rescue tug and the Coast Guard Cutters Bedloe and Jackson set out to sea from Morehead City, North Carolina with a full complement of men. World War II was coming to a close in the Atlantic, yet trouble could still be found just a few miles offshore. A liberty ship on her maiden voyage, a German U-boat in the wrong place at the right time, and the second worst hurricane of the century culminated in a desperate struggle for survival, as the rescuers unwittingly became the victims. The Bedloe, the Jackson, and forty-eight crewmen were never seen again. It was one of the worst maritime disasters to befall the Coast Guard during World War II. This epic tale takes the reader full circle from the rum running days of Prohibition through the final moments and beyond, detailing the separate discoveries of the Bedloe and the Jackson shipwrecks half a century later. Firsthand accounts by survivors unveil the heart wrenching and sometimes brutal aspects of their ordeal, while in-depth analysis of obscure technical details reveal that there was more to this catastrophe than meets the eye.

With its many inlets, points, and coves, the coast of New Jersey stood out as a haven for rumrunners brazenly thumbing their nose at the federal government during Prohibition. New Jersey was also recognized as the birthplace of the federal government's shore-based units of the United States Coast Guard, the organization charged at that time with stopping the flow of "demon run" into America. With its vivid images, New Jersey Coast Guard Stations and Rumrunners revives the days when New Jersey's "coasties" stood toe-to-toe with the rumrunners of the 1920s and 1930s.