1927 – Howard Jenkins is a history professor, immersed in the medieval world, in love with the past. His younger brother, Reginald, is a ne’er do well who plays at being a student to please their parents. When Reginald’s gambling debts involve Howard in a bootlegging operation, Howard is blasted out of his secure academic world. Howard’s only question now is, what would King Richard do? The one good thing to come out of this dreadful situation is Madge Rhodes, a lovely, young widow who Howard has decided to court. However, Madge’s cousin, Maisie, a flirty little jazz baby, has ideas of her own about Howard.

In Bootleggers & Baptists: How Economic Forces and Moral Persuasion Interact to Shape Regulatory Politics, economists Bruce Yandle and Adam Smith explain how money and morality are often combined in politics to produce arbitrary regulations benefiting cronies, while constraining productive economic activities by the general public. Yandle’s theory asserts that regulatory “bootleggers” are parties taking political action in pursuit of economic gain. Regulatory “Baptists” are parties participating in group action driven by an avowed higher moral purpose or desire to serve the public interest. By examining major regulatory activities including Obamacare, the recent financial crisis bailouts, climate change legislation, and rules governing “sinful” substances, Bootleggers & Baptists reveals that lasting regulations require moral and financial advocacy to survive the American political process. With countless regulatory initiatives on the horizon, this book is a must-read for all who are concern about over-regulation and government intrusion in our daily lives.

This extraordinary account of a struggling midwestern coal town profiles small-time bootlegger Kelly Wagle, whose mysterious career--and suspected involvement with two unsolved murder cases--had a profound and lasting impact on his community. In unraveling the process by which Colchester, Illinois, lost its grip on the American promise, John Hallwas reveals this remote corner of the Midwest as a true reflection of the quintessential American experience.

"It is 1921, and both Prohibition and bootlegging are in full swing. When Isaac Bell's boss and lifelong friend Joseph Van Dorn is shot and nearly killed leading the high-speed chase of a rum-running vessel, Bell swears to him that he will hunt down the lawbreakers, but he doesn't know what he is getting into. When a witness to Van Dorn's shooting is executed in a ruthlessly efficient manner invented by the Russian secret police, it becomes clear that these are no ordinary criminals. On a trail that leads from the ravages of post WWI Europe to the speakeasies of New York to the lawless streets of Detroit and Florida's lavish beachside resorts, Isaac tracks the footsteps of a criminal enterprise more ingenious and far-reaching than any he has ever known. He is up against a team of Bolshevik assassins and saboteurs, and they are intent on overthrowing the government of the United States. Packed with daring escapades and incredible heroics"--Provided by publisher

Between 1920 and 1933 the issue of prohibition proved to be the greatest challenge to Canada-U.S. relations. When the United States adopted national prohibition in 1920—ironically, just as Canada was abandoning its own national and provincial experiments with prohibition—U.S. tourists and dollars promptly headed north and Canadian liquor went south. Despite repeated efforts, Americans were unable to secure Canadian assistance in enforcing American prohibition laws until 1930. Bootleggers and Borders explores the important but surprisingly overlooked Canada-U.S. relationship in the Pacific Northwest during Prohibition. Stephen T. Moore maintains that the reason Prohibition created such an intractable problem lies not with the relationship between Ottawa and Washington DC but with everyday operations experienced at the border level, where foreign relations are conducted according to different methods and rules and are informed by different assumptions, identities, and cultural values. Through an exploration of border relations in the Pacific Northwest, Bootleggers and Borders offers insight into not only the Canada-U.S. relationship but also the subtle but important differences in the tactics Canadians and Americans employed when confronted with similar problems. Ultimately, British Columbia’s method of addressing temperance provided the United States with a model that would become central to its abandonment and replacement of Prohibition.

The generation that toiled through the Great Depression and won the Second World War has become known as -the greatest generation.- But not all of them qualified for that exaggerated epithet in the eyes of their own children. In this tender but unsparing memoir, Mary Cimarolli remembers a world in which the family home was lost to foreclosure, her father made his way by bootlegging, and school was a haven to hide from her brother's teasing. Her stories are about struggle and survival, making do and overcoming, and, ultimately, reconciliation. From her perspective as a child, she describes the cotton stamps and other programs of the New Deal, the yellow-dog Democrat politics and racism of East Texas, and the religious revivals and Old Settlers reunions that gave a break from working in the cotton patch. The colorful colloquialisms of rural East Texas that dot the manuscript help express both the traditionalism of the region and its changes under the impact of modernization, electrification, and the coming of war. Along with these regional and national trends, Cimarolli skillfully interweaves the personal: conflict between her parents, the death of her brother a few days before his sixteenth birthday, and her own inner tensions.

Leo Koury was at the proverbial crossroads of life. He was in his early 50's and realized that everything he had worked for, including a burgeoning law practice, influence in regional and national politics, and a strong reputation as a man who could get things done, no longer held the same significance it once did. Everything changed when he was compelled to attend the 1994 Billy Graham Crusade in Cleveland. With salvation came clarity, and Koury's life suddenly had perspective. He embarked on a new journey from success to significance and realized the root of his dissatisfaction traced back to the relationship with his father, Fred Koury. In Bootlegger's Son: One Man's Journey from His Earthly Father to His Heavenly Father, Koury shares stories about his amazing journey. He chronicles the often-tenuous relationship with his father, his tumultuous youth, the challenges overcome in building a successful law practice, and his roller-coaster ride in politics that culminated with delivering Lorain County, Ohio, for Jimmy Carter's presidency. More importantly, Koury pulls back the curtain and explores his personal struggles with coming to Christianity and accepting salvation. He talks about humility and the decades he spent fighting against the pull of his old, survival-of-the-fittest ways that were a result of his domineering father, a one-time bootlegger and tavern owner. Although Koury's story is one man's personal testimonial, it is a tale that others can relate to, as his life lessons provide enlightenment to how one's relationship with the Heavenly Father can help create a greater appreciation and understanding of his or her earthly father.

Christmas comes to Arkham Horror in this action-packed eldritch adventure full of secret whispers, haunted streets, and a lost actor falling through time Raquel Malone Gutierrez is running away, although she won’t admit that to herself. Suffering from hearing loss after an illness, the former music teacher wants to find a way to retain her independence, but only a wealthy relative offers any hope of that. Put to work in her aunt Nova’s Kingsport dance hall, Raquel stumbles upon a mystery when her new hearing aids begin picking up conversations that no one else can hear. As Christmas draws closer, Raquel realizes the voice comes from a hunted man lost in time. Now she must do everything she can to free him before the monsters chasing him can catch up and break through.

Hard times send a pair of aristocratic English siblings to Prohibition era-Chicago where a bride, gangsters, and trouble await. It’s almost too ghastly to say, darlings, but Blotto and la famille are facing . . . call it an embarrassment of no riches. No, I wouldn’t have imagined it either, but this is the 1920s, famed for financial reversals. At any rate, things are so dire that the Dowager Duchess—oh she’s a tiger, an absolute tiger!—is packing dearest Blotto off to America, if you can believe it, to marry some hideous heiress and make her the Duchess of Tawcester. Well of course Twinks is going with him: I adore Blotto, but left on his own he couldn’t find America from New York Harbor. Oh no, they’ve got a girl all picked out, the daughter of some man named Chapstick, in Chicago. Daddy says this Chapstick fellow is bound to be an unspeakable gangster who carries a machine gun and wears those vulgar hats, but I’m sure that can’t be right. I mean, Blotto and Twinks involved with gangsters? It would be too funny for words! Praise for the Blotto and Twinks Mysteries “A hilarious spin on the traditional British mystery.” —Publishers Weekly “This is the kind of book you’ll have to put down, frequently, as you roar with laughter.” —Booklist, starred review