PROHIBITION -- The Era Of Excess

by Andrew Sinclair ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 13, 1961

A thorough and well-documented account of the origins and politics of prohibition, and the results of its failure. The roots of prohibition are found in rural mythology and the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment was the country's last major victory over the city. Its proponents exploited the fears of the people, misrepresented the findings of science and medicine, and made effective use of the temper of reform. The efficiency of the dry pressure groups (and the correspondent, stupidity of the brewers and distillers) and their mastery of propaganda translated the struggle into political terms. Politics pushed Bryan, Roosevelt and his successors into declaiming themselves for prohibition, and encouraged Congress to pass its responsibility on to the states in the form of the Eighteenth Amendment. The author attributes the failure of enforcement to the prohibitionists refusal to compromise -- to the excess of their moral reform. He then traces the changes that bring the majority to the side of repeal. The author considers the tragedy of prohibition and its repeal to lie in the politics of excess: reform was born in excess and lost the support of moderates; it perished by excess and the prior evils returned, now further tarnished by the criminals' control of large areas of American business and labor. Recommended for the student of history and social change.

Pub Date: March 13, 1961

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown-A.M.P.

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1961

Categories: NONFICTION