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krisrid's review
3.0
This is a very specific non-fiction book, and probably isn't for everyone. However, having been born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, and having a great-uncle who actually WAS a rum-running in the 1920's, I found this book fascinating and interesting history.
The book is non-fiction, and while it doesn't quite read like a novel, the author does a wonderful job in making the history of Prohibition in the border cities of Windsor and Detroit Michigan engaging by wrapping it all around a shooting that pits two individuals on opposing sides of the Prohibition issue against one another, and makes the story about people rather than dry history [ha ha - no pun intended!]
As I said, I grew up in the area, so reading a book where virtually every page has a person, place or thing that is familiar to me was cool.
If you have an interest in the Prohibition issue, this might be interesting for you. If you live in the Windsor area, you will definitely find it interesting. This is a short easy-to-read book that makes history interesting.
The book is non-fiction, and while it doesn't quite read like a novel, the author does a wonderful job in making the history of Prohibition in the border cities of Windsor and Detroit Michigan engaging by wrapping it all around a shooting that pits two individuals on opposing sides of the Prohibition issue against one another, and makes the story about people rather than dry history [ha ha - no pun intended!]
As I said, I grew up in the area, so reading a book where virtually every page has a person, place or thing that is familiar to me was cool.
If you have an interest in the Prohibition issue, this might be interesting for you. If you live in the Windsor area, you will definitely find it interesting. This is a short easy-to-read book that makes history interesting.
chewdigestbooks's review
4.0
I know almost nothing about Canadian history and understand their form of government even less, so when I read the description that parts of Canada had their own versions of Prohibition before we did, I was aghast. Didn't I remember reading about rum runners bringing whiskey down from Canada via the Great Lakes and along the land borders?
Canada experimented with Prohibition before the United States did and they did it in their own way. It was more like an anti-saloon league idea, where one could order alcohol for their own use, but it was nigh impossible to get a license for something like a bar. Slight problem, that the U.S. later learned as well, alcohol is pretty much impossible to ban and you could never have enough trustworthy lawmen to do it even if you tried.
Still, some parts of the population were determined to force their idealism on the rest of the region and for most areas it made sense and there wasn't a problem. It was WWI after all and grain was needed for food, not mash, plus there were ways around the Act, especially if you lived along the border of the U.S. if one was so inclined.
Then the war was over, the soldiers came back parched and the U.S. decided that they could do the whole prohibition thing better. That meant that the border cities, especially the Detroit-Windsor borderlands basically exploded into serious bootlegging. The back and forth shenanigans were endless.
Then, Attorney General Raney appointed a fire and brimstone Reverand, H.O.L. Spracklin the provincial license inspector for the Border Cities and he did not spare the fire or the brimstone, nor did he happen to follow the law much. It turned out to be a pretty bad appointment, let's just leave the rest for you to read.
The book was imminently readable and really short, considering how much information was packed in there. I didn't want to put it down and while I wouldn't say that Brode is the master of imagery, I could easily picture the goings on in my mind, the booze-filled boats heading to Detroit, the Windsor "bar" patrons stumbling out right in front of Inspector Spracklin, etc. It was a hoot, I learned more about Canada, and that even they didn't get Prohibition right...not that I believe you can.
Canada experimented with Prohibition before the United States did and they did it in their own way. It was more like an anti-saloon league idea, where one could order alcohol for their own use, but it was nigh impossible to get a license for something like a bar. Slight problem, that the U.S. later learned as well, alcohol is pretty much impossible to ban and you could never have enough trustworthy lawmen to do it even if you tried.
Still, some parts of the population were determined to force their idealism on the rest of the region and for most areas it made sense and there wasn't a problem. It was WWI after all and grain was needed for food, not mash, plus there were ways around the Act, especially if you lived along the border of the U.S. if one was so inclined.
Then the war was over, the soldiers came back parched and the U.S. decided that they could do the whole prohibition thing better. That meant that the border cities, especially the Detroit-Windsor borderlands basically exploded into serious bootlegging. The back and forth shenanigans were endless.
Then, Attorney General Raney appointed a fire and brimstone Reverand, H.O.L. Spracklin the provincial license inspector for the Border Cities and he did not spare the fire or the brimstone, nor did he happen to follow the law much. It turned out to be a pretty bad appointment, let's just leave the rest for you to read.
The book was imminently readable and really short, considering how much information was packed in there. I didn't want to put it down and while I wouldn't say that Brode is the master of imagery, I could easily picture the goings on in my mind, the booze-filled boats heading to Detroit, the Windsor "bar" patrons stumbling out right in front of Inspector Spracklin, etc. It was a hoot, I learned more about Canada, and that even they didn't get Prohibition right...not that I believe you can.
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