Status Updates From Scarface and the Untouchabl...

It is reasonable to look at the gong-show nonsense of prohibition enforcement and see echoes in American news.

As I read more historical pieces there are so many places where history rhymes. We’re always just people and that is not always great for us.

This book is cascading towards an endless parade of names and dates not that we’re into the crime wave part. I might end up abandoning it because I’m less interested in the nitty gritty details than in a more analytical overview of the whole prohibition and gangster thing.

The author uses this “it is likely that” phrasing to cover gaps in the research in a really interesting way. It allows them to hit the emotional note of a novel while preserving the historical record “it is likely that they lost their home” or “if the disease had affected his brain” I’ve never seen this in a nonfic. It makes for a very novel style read.

The introduction suggests that this is meant for people who grew up on gangster movies which is not me. I know some of the names but none of the history. Once it got rolling, it has been very thorough and accessible. It does go hard on the lurid descriptions of violence. I got interested in prohibition off the poisons book and so far I’m very curious about this one.