The War on Alcohol

In "Prohibition," Lisa McGirr challenges the conventional narrative of this era by revealing its profound impact on the expansion of the federal government and the modern penal system. Through meticulous research, she highlights how Prohibition disproportionately affected African American, immigrant, and poor White communities, intertwining with Jim Crow laws to enforce social coercion. The book argues that this period laid the groundwork for ongoing federal initiatives against crime, drugs, and terrorism, illustrating a bipartisan legacy that shaped the activist American state.