Mississippi Moonshine Politics: How Bootleggers & the Law Kept a Dry State Soaked

by Janice Branch Tracy

For most states, the repeal of prohibition meant a return to a state of legally drunken normalcy, but not so in Mississippi. The Magnolia State went dry over a decade before the nation, leaving bootleggers to establish political and financial holds they were unwilling to lose. For nearly sixty years, bootlegging flourished, and Mississippi became known as the “wettest dry state in the country.” Law enforcement tried in vain to control crime that followed each empty bottle. Until statewide prohibition was finally repealed in 1966, illegal booze fueled a corrupt political machine that intimidated journalists who dared to speak against it and fixed juries that threatened its interests. Author and native Mississippian Janice Branch Tracy delivers an intimate look at the story of Mississippi’s moonshine empire.

Genres: Nonfiction

247 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 16, 2015

Reviews

[Mississippi Library Commission · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mississippi has always had an awkward love-hate relationship with alcohol and Mississippi Moonshine Politics brought this into sharp focus for us. The book introduces bootleggers and politicians from the Delta to the Gulf Coast, all within the framework of the history of prohibition in Mississippi. (By the way, our new favorite Mississippi politician name is Representative Noah "Soggy" Sweat, replacing longtime favorite Representative Greek Rice.) Tracy intersperses her history lesson with some fascinating stories about our native state that were a revelation to read. If you'd like to try a fictional account of bootleggers in Mississippi when you're done with Mississippi Moonshine Politics, try Tom Franklin and Beth Ann Fennelly's The Tilted World.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it amusing that new hospital in the 1950s in Leland, the same one where I was born and the one my Mamaw worked at for over 40 years, was partially funded from folks getting fined by the mayor for selling alcohol.

[Ethan W · Rating 4 out of 5]

The wettest dry book I've ever read