Firebrands

In Firebrands, Gioia Diliberto uncovers the powerful stories of four remarkable women who shaped the course of Prohibition in America. From Ella Boole, the determined leader of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, to Mabel Walker Willebrandt, the top federal prosecutor enforcing Prohibition, and silent film star Texas Guinan, who defied the law with speakeasies, Diliberto highlights their significant yet overlooked roles. The narrative also features Pauline Morton Sabin, a Manhattan aristocrat who galvanized efforts to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment, illustrating how these women forged a legacy that influenced future activists in the civil rights movement.