Chesapeake Rumrunners of the Roaring Twenties

By Eric Mills

Book Overview

When Prohibition was the law, Chesapeake Bay was a smuggler's paradise. Rogues of all types transported boatloads of forbidden liquor in the days when America experimented with forced, and unforeseeable, temperance. In a style reminiscent of the era it describes, Eric Mills brings to life the world of mobster and preacher, rumrunner and revenue man, moonshine and "real McCoy." It was a whiskey-soaked age that was supposed to be dry. Prohibition may have been the law of the land, but the Chesapeake Bay country was awash in illegal alcohol. The marshes were teeming with hidden stills, and bootleg liquor was smuggled throughout the waterways and adjoining countryside by daring men in fast boats and faster cars. Chesapeake Rumrunners of the Roaring Twenties is a saga of people--watermen and steamer captains, mob racketeers and "legitimate" businessmen--all of them wanting part of the action. In the maze of bay waters, boats played a key role in that action, many disguised as workboats but built for speed and the ability to outmaneuver the law. On the other side, Billy Sunday and an army of temperance crusaders campaigned tirelessly to encourage Prohibition, while federal agents and Coast Guardsmen shared the impossible task of enforcing it. Using a mix of news reports, government records, and local lore, the author has written a fascinating account of a memorable chapter in Chesapeake history.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0870335189
• ISBN13: 9780870335181
• Release Date: July 2009
• Publisher: Schiffer Publishing
• Length: 204 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A great historical survey of Prohibition in Chesapeake Bay.

In Chesapeake Rumrunners Of The Roaring Twenties, Eric Mills tells the story of Prohibition in Chesapeake Bay country with a memorable cast the includes watermen and steamer captains, mob racketeers, and "legitimate" businessmen who took advantage of a nation's thirst for alcohol to make their fortunes smuggling booze into the country. The saga also had Billy Sunday and an army of temperance crusaders campaigning to encourage Prohibition, federal agents and Coast Guardsmen burdened with the impossible task of holding back the tide of alcohol from coming into the country. In a maze of Bay waters, smuggler boats played a key role in the illicit traffic, and were built for speed and the ability to out-maneuver the law while being disguised as ordinary work boats. Chesapeake Rumrunners Of The Roaring Twenties is a vivid, highly recommended history drawing on news reports, government records, and local lore to recreate an incredible time where some men sought to change human nature and before through the force of an unpopular law, and others sought to make their fortunes in defiance of that same law.

A Lively Jaunt Through a Bygone Era

This fast-paced, readable chronicle of an almost forgotten era in American history fills a longstanding void. The fact that it is immensely entertaining, as well as informative, makes it doubly valuable. It provides a thorough, understandable history of the social forces at play in the nation which led to the passage of the 18th Amendment and to the inevitability of its Repeal. The author has done it again with this fine companion to his superb CHESAPEAKE BAY IN THE CIVIL WAR. Bravo, Eric Mills!

Another Splendid Effort By Mills

Eric Mills has mastered the rare ability to bring back the past through skillful and imaginative writing. A terrific book.