El último trago

Since its inception, the United States has been immersed in alcohol. The ship that carried the English Puritan John Winthrop to the New World in 1630 had more than thirty-seven thousand liters of wine in its hold, and it carried three times more beer than water. During the 1820s, alcohol was more abundant, readily available, and cheaper than tea. And yet, in 1920, the United States banned the sale of alcohol across the country. In The Last Drink, Daniel Okrent reveals how prohibition was created, what life was like during Prohibition and how this political experiment, behind which hatred of immigrants was hidden, came to an end. Not only do fascinating characters parade through the pages of this book, from gangsters like Al Capone or "Lucky" Luciano to extraordinary women like Mabel Willebrandt or Pauline Sabin, but Okrent shows us that Prohibition was key to the achievement of the female vote, the growth of large mafia organizations, the popularization of jazz, the creation of income tax or the presence of women in bars. The Last Drink is the most complete and gripping Prohibition story ever written, a memorable journey from the skyscrapers and speakeasies of New York to the vineyards of California, not to mention the halls of Congress or the shootings in Chicago and Detroit.