Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine and the Lawless Years of Prohibition

Blumenthal, Karen. 2011. BOOTLEG: MURDER, MOONSHINE, AND THE LAWLESS YEARS OF PROHIBITION. Roaring Book Press: New York. ISBN978-1-59643-449-3.

BOOTLEG chronicles the Prohibition Era from the late 1800's to 1933 when Prohibition ended. The first part of the book shows the events that lead up to the Prohibition Amendment being passed. The reader will learn about major players in the temperance movement such as Morris Sheppard and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. These supporters of outlawing alcohol believed that doing so would cause there to be less violence and broken families. The rest of the book describes how Prohibition affected people in the United States and how it was eventually repealed.

The book is organized in such a way that the reader can easily follow the flow of events which surrounded Prohibition. Although almost half of the book is dedicated to the time before Prohibition it allows the reader to better understand Prohibition and why some thought it was necessary. The book is also very readable for this age group. There is a glossary in the back to explain some of the terms that readers might not have encountered before. Other than the words that are specific to the era, I do not think there are many other words that the reader will have difficulty understanding.

There are many photographs found throughout the book. I think they help tell the story of Prohibition. All the photographs in the book have captions that explain the picture. A photograph on page 66 shows men dumping liquid down the sewer. The caption explains, "In a scene that was repeated many times in the 1920s, law enforcement officials pour an illegal brew into the sewer." This picture depicts, for the reader, how desperate people were for alcohol that they knew it might be dumped out but made it anyway.

At the back of the book is a list of resources for those who want more information on Prohibition, temperance and alcohol. There are also lists of resources for more information about different people and groups in the book such as Morris Sheppard, The Anti-Saloon League, and Al Capone. There is also quite an extensive bibliography of the sources used to write the book. It is organized by chapter and is easy to read and find a particular sources used for a quote or fact. "The breadth of the well-researched material makes Bootleg a substantial resource for reports; a deep bibliography and copious source notes provide ample opportunities for further study…this book is also a lively read…” (Donsky 2011).

Reference List:
Donsky, Rebecca Dash. "Review of Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition." School Library Journal 57, no 7 (2011): 111-112. http://ezproxy.twu.edu: 2056/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&hid=126& sid=35792edb-1b40-4f16-a75b-e1ee40afab75%40sessionmgr113.