A Fortnightly Review of
Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition
By Daniel Okrent
468 pages $30.00 Scribner.
By Andrew Sinclair.
THERE IS A DIFFERENCE between history and journalism. This account of Prohibition is written by a contemporary journalist. Daniel Okrent was public editor of the New York Times and managing editor of Life magazine. So his account of the thirteen Dry years teems with phrases such as ‘a smart move’ or ‘fake rye’ or ‘lubricious behavior’ or even the remarkable ‘Apart from “21”, which was sui generis, Manhattan speakeasy style ran…’
Last Call is reportage, not social history. The running style in this extended account is that of a newsman, sniffing out the good stories. And there are plenty of them, from that golden age of gossip and occasional retribution. Although there is a great deal of dazzle and detail, there is little new in the causes and consequences of Prohibition – the rural saloon and the rise of women’s rights, the conflict of the country against the city, the attack on foreigners and the surge of nativism, and the economic reasons for Repeal.
However, in the excellent digging and delving behind the book, Okrent exposes many of the myths of Prohibition, from its false glamour to its lax enforcement. And because of scrupulous reporting, Okrent does reveal Joe Kennedy’s liquor import contracts with Haig whisky and Gordon’s gin, the foundation of the family fortune, which bankrolled the political careers of his sons. Joe Kennedy was not a bootlegger, but he was a wily operator.
The facts are incontrovertible. Effectively, two billion dollars a year were transferred from respectable brewers and wineries to gangsters, who went on to corrupt the Teamsters and other unions, which became protection rackets. The control of alcohol proved impossible in a Western country. Taste and tradition overcame coercion and morality.
These were the lessons of Prohibition. Although they are illustrated with a wealth of amusing insights in this work, the message is lost in the media. In fact, the book is to be featured in a forthcoming Ken Burns television documentary, so at times it reads more like a screenplay, and as entertainment, it speaks easy.
Andrew Sinclair is a novelist, historian, filmmaker, and a founding member of Churchill College, Cambridge. He directed Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, and Peter O’Toole in Under Milk Wood
