Behind Bars: True Crime Stories of Whiskey Heists, Beer Bandits, and Fake Million-Dollar Wines

by Mike Gerrard

Behind Bars is filled with stories both ancient and urgent of what happens when alcohol meets crime, from illicit stills in the Scottish Highlands to moonshine in the USA, rum smuggled by Caribbean pirates to the roaring times of Prohibition, current-day gangs selling millions of dollars’ worth of fake Bordeaux, and the often-unsolved cases of people walking into a liquor store, stealing whiskey bottles worth tens of thousands of dollars, and walking out, never to be seen again.

Award-winning travel and drinks writer Mike Gerrard takes readers on a centuries-long journey highlighting the most bizarre – and expensive – alcohol-related crimes all while revealing the inside world of spirits, how they have been distilled, legislated, imbibed, and infused into our culture for hundreds of years. Featuring colorful tangents and detailed appendices, Behind Bars will whet the whistle of any curious reader. Spanning the stories of ancient wine swindlers in Pompeii to the modern radiocarbon-dating techniques used by today’s cutting-edge scientists to investigate suspect bottles of expensive alcohol, from million-dollar robberies of wine cellars buried deep underground to whiskey rings surrounding the highest reaches of the Presidency, Gerrard smartly and swiftly reveals that the link between alcohol and crime is a never-ending story.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime

188 pages, Paperback

Published October 8, 2024

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Brendan (History Nerds United) · Rating 3 out of 5]

To quote one of the great philosophers of our time, "Here's to alcohol, the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems." I don't think I could ever say it better than Homer Simpson, so I won't try to. In that mindset, I dove into Behind Bars by Mike Gerrard. The book is a compilation of true crime stories tied to adult beverages in one way or another. Each chapter focuses on a specific theme whether it's illegal distilling or wine forgeries.

The book is ultimately a mixed bag in both a good and bad way. It is very short at about 150 pages and also liberally sprinkled with notes on extra tidbits. The problem with a short book that jumps around is that each section needs to be tight and propulsive to keep the reader's interest. Gerrard has some wonderful stories which are told well. Unfortunately, he goes on a little too long in each chapter and it feels drawn out or repetitive a bit too often. In a longer book, you may not even notice. However, it is glaring in a book this short. Ultimately, I can't fully recommend the book without reservations, but I also wouldn't tell anyone to stay away from it. There's nothing wrong with pouring a glass of your favorite libation and seeing if you like this one.

(This book was provided as an advance reader copy by the publisher.)

[Thomas Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick read about some of the history of Whiskey, Moonshine and Wine with some brief discussion of how to or how it was manufactured. But the main focus is the different types of crime committed around these beverages and spirits. Starting with the avoidance of paying taxes on said alcohols and methods they went to hide it including times of prohibition which really did not good because everyone down to priest were consuming alcohol. I thought it was funny to read how when the law was looking for stills that the owners would sometimes report the location of their own still so they could collect the reward money to buy better equipment. There is also a section about thefts of very expensive wines, whiskeys and extremely large amounts of beer. Interesting to read that the most popular item stolen from grocery stores is cheese. Amazing to read the lengths that individuals have went to sell fake or inferior alcohol. This was a quick informative read that i would recommend.

[Kirk Dobihal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book on the criminal aspects impacting the adult beverage industry.

[Candi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting tidbits and stories but not riveting.