Last Call: The Rise & Fall Of Prohibition - Book Review

The dexterity of a national repression that effectively lead into an economic depression was never so soundly integrated with different ideals of sociological structure than during the time of Prohibition. With "Last Call: The Rise & Fall Of Prohibition" [Daniel Okrent/Scribner/376pgs], much like "Boardwalk Empire", the denseness of the diatribe speaks to the grandness of what transpired. While the world watched with a sort of detached awe as the free country attempted to save its constituents from itself, a greater underground infiltration came to be which eclipsed nearly everything else. More than anything else, this period defined what this country is known for: ingenuity and thinking beyond logic while still expressing capitalist wares. The problematic aspect is that it also showed the darker parts of the country's psyche. While the actual inflection of the Prohibition movement which grew out of a Christian idealism marred the landscape, the overwhelming implementation taken to introduce the idea into law and later to repeal is in itself an interesting dilemma. What happened in the middle of the process involving bootlegging simply fed the demand. The aspect of how the Bahamas, Canada, Cuba and even a small island off the coast of Maine called St. Pierre (owned by the French) factored in (not to mention all the chemistry involved) shows many different people infiltrating the structure both from a criminal and needed point-of-view.Another angle involved the actual enforcement of the laws. The paradox is that many of the so-called "drys" were partially "wet" behind-the-scenes, sneaking drinks here and there but supported the law's inflection simply from a political standpoint. Eventually the Repeal was implemented by women's groups which undeniably caused its introduction in the first place. This balance and the unspoken sociological points are not lost. In the middle of this conundrum, Prohibition helped organize the crime syndicates into true thinking machines in terms of moving product and working the system. One of the more legitimate runs when compared to movers like Al Capone and Lucky Luciano was The Bronfmans of Montreal who built the Seagram brand based on a would-be Canadian laundry structure (using St. Pierre) that was brilliant in its subtlety at times. "Last Call" examines all of these functions with a detached focus that balances both the fact and the impact within society, both at a blue collar level and a Beltway functionality to say nothing of the top echelon. Much like today the imbalance speaks but the wants of many win out in the end. Another interesting parallel is that Okrent worked closely with Ken Burns who also was making a Prohibition documentary at the same time. Although both projects became separate, Okrent says each informed the other. Out of 5, for sheer dexterity of knowledge giving a comprehensive view of Prohibition's rise and fall, I give "Last Call" a 3.