Crusaders, Gangsters, and Whiskey: Prohibition in Memphis

Prohibition, with all its crime, corruption, and cultural upheaval, ran its course after thirteen years in most of the rest of the country—but not in Memphis, where it lasted thirty years. Patrick O’Daniel takes a fresh look at those responsible for the rise and fall of Prohibition, its effect on Memphis, and the impact events in the city made on the rest of the state and country.

Prohibition remains perhaps the most important issue to affect Memphis after the Civil War. It affected politic...