By the 1820s, liquor flowed so plentifully it was cheaper than tea. The sailing vessel that brought John Winthrop to the shores of the New World in 1630 carried more beer than water. From its start, America has been awash in drink.

He says that many ordinary citizens did not respond positively following the enactment of this prohibition.A brilliant, authoritative, and fascinating history of America's most puzzling era, the years 1920 to 1933, when the US Constitution was amended to restrict one of America's favorite pastimes: drinking alcoholic beverages. He terms the whole prohibition scenario as a failed social experiment. One example demonstrating good use of the sources is where he explores prohibition not only in terms of what was amended in the constitution but also applies this knowledge to relate prohibition to the earliest themes in the 20 th century and traces its roots of emergence from ethnic, religious, social and political backgrounds.Īccording to my own observation of the author’s ideas, I think he demonstrates some form of prejudice and bias. Being a journalist, the author has demonstrated good skills on the use and analysis of various sources to explore the politics of prohibition. He had to get the information from the citizens themselves. The sources were very appropriate to the main theme that the author was trying to put across following the fact that he wanted to explore the politics of prohibition and the consequences that followed. However he also employed secondary works like the constitution review in explaining the amendments made to the constitution that prohibited any intoxicating liquor in United States. He collected this information from the ordinary American citizens to gauge their perception concerning prohibition that was effected following the eighteenth amendment to the constitution.

The author relied on the primary sources to obtain first hand information concerning this scenario. He explores the reaction of the ordinary citizens where he asks and provides answers to this social experiment that seems not to be successful due to the outcomes witnessed like rise in gangster era. The author is generally trying to put across the changes that took place after the prohibition was effected both in terms of culture and way of life.

He breaks down on the politics involved in this prohibition in the year 1919 till the enactment of the prohibition in the year that followed.

Last Call by Daniel Okrent