| Title | : | The Great Illusion: An Informal History of Prohibition |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0837100089 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780837100081 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 344 |
| Publication | : | First published November 30, 1968 |
With the passing of the Volstead Act, the United States embraced Prohibition as the law of the land. From 1920 to 1933, the well-intentioned ban of the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors gave rise to a flourishing culture of bootleggers, gangsters, and corrupt officials. This witty and perceptive history by Herbert Asbury, the bestselling author of The Gangs of New York, offers a wide-ranging survey of the Prohibition era that covers not only twentieth-century events but also the movement's inception in colonial times and its transformation into a religious crusade.
A considerable portion of Americans viewed the end of liquor trafficking as an act of obedience to God's will and anticipated a new era of peace and prosperity. Instead, a vast criminal network of black market profiteers took root, promoting a spirit of lawlessness throughout the country. The Great Illusion charts all aspects of the period's moral decline, from the activities of rumrunners who supplied speakeasies to those of crooked politicians and police who profited from the failed experiment of Prohibition.
The Great Illusion: An Informal History of Prohibition Reviews
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Herbert Asbury offers readers a profusion of details about people and events regarding alcohol drinking that in nineteenth century US was quite excessive and prompted concern and calls for some type of control, which is understandable. The fallout in terms of prohibiting alcohol led to more crime, endemic corruption of the police and politicians with bootleggers and criminals, at times helping one another profit! It made me think we have seen a similar, if not worse consequences with the so-called War on Drugs, which is gradually ending, as more states legalize marijuana. Incidentally, the Prohibition on alcohol compelled more prisoners and prisons in United States, and this only intensified many times over with the so-called War on Drugs.
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This is, as promised, an "informal history." That is- Asbury was a journalist by profession and experience, rather than a historian, and this book very much shows it.
He loves anecdotes and illustrative incidents, he draws freely from contemporary sources for color, he retails facts and figures from government reports, newspapers, dry and wet propaganda. His analysis exists in the shadow of these things, and sometimes barely exists at all- he doesn't have the apparatus to generalize his anecdotes into narrative history, or to digest his primary sources into trends. He's here to tell a colorful story more than to explain the events of that story. He prefers discussing individuals to organizations, especially when this lets him tell a more engaging story. Given his unsystematic, magpie-like approach to collecting and presenting data, one can never be quite sure of the accuracy or representativeness of the statistics or anecdotes he retails. It sometimes feels like Asbury isn't quite on top of his material, and like it might get out from under him.
This is really two books- the first part is about the history of the temperance movement in America up to the enactment of the 18th Amendment, and the second part is about the Prohibition era itself. The half of the book covering the Prohibition era is generally more immediate and colorful, bouncing around the 14 years of the era freely to illuminate different aspects of Prohibition- Asbury was an adult, and working as a journalist in New York, during this time, contributing greatly to the immediacy of the second part of the book. The downside of this is that sections of the text can read like parades of indistinguishable names- of mobsters, politicians, restaurants, speakeasies, cultural figures, activists- which clearly had relevance to Asbury, but which are today meaningless without more context.
I found this book generally entertaining (though somewhat dry), and adequate as a narrative of the leadup to and duration of Prohibition; but it really isn't a first-class history, and if that's what you want, you should look elsewhere. -
The Great Illusion by Herbert Asbury is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in late July.
A Dover edition initially published in 1950: ahhhh, yes, it took until the first page for me to realize that Asbury's writing style for the Boardwalk Empire book was very long winded and each sentence was extensive in length. The history treads a familiar path to Ken Burn's Prohibition and, yes, Boardwalk Empire: the availability and preference for alcohol; alternatives to drinking before the advocation of outright temperance; much crusade on behalf of the medical and church community (especially the Anti-Saloon League), while politicians would take an anti-drinking stance until the Volstead Act/the 18th Amendment was put into place on January 1920; detriment of restaurants, but rise of mob-owned nightclubs; mob activity in New York and Chicago; and the end of prohibition in April 1933. -
No one writes playful pop history like Asbury-- gritty, sardonic, and utterly pleasurable. I recommend reading them in the original 1930s editions to get the full verve.
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'The Great Illusion' is actually a reissue of a book first written 50 years ago. This seems informationally accurate detailing the history of temperance in the United States since colonial time. The writing is very dry and evokes very little enjoyment and easy to put down.
