If you're looking for an engrossing nonfiction book, you can't beat 'Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition' by Daniel Okrent. I've been curious about how the 18th Amendment came into being. Changing the Constitution is a huge undertaking and Prohibition was more than 50 years in the making yet unwound itself in fourteen years when the 18th Amendment was repealed. My biggest surprise is how my home state of Ohio was the mothership for the 'dry' movement. The first organized protest against alcohol took place in southern Ohio. The Anti-Saloon League was the major lobby organization with its headquarters in Westerville, Ohio, a Columbus suburb. If this ASL was so influential in early 20th century politics, then why had I never heard of it? Three things came about because of the prohibition movement:
1) Women's suffrage
2) The income tax
3) Anti-German sentiment surrounding World War I
Interested? So is Ken Burns who is doing his own PBS documentary on the topic this fall.
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