The co-op bookstore for avid readers
Book Cover for: Closing Time: Prohibition, Rum-Runners and Border Wars, Daniel Francis

Closing Time: Prohibition, Rum-Runners and Border Wars

Daniel Francis

Canadians have long associated Prohibition with the colorful history of the Jazz Age in the United States. But even before the American ban that was in place from 1920 to 1933, Canada initiated its own Prohibition. The so-called Cold Water Army was led by zealots and prudes preaching hellfire and damnation, but also by committed social reformers who recognized the ill effects of excessive drinking. In March 1918, the federal government banned the manufacture and importation of liquor. For the next 21 months, Canada was as dry as any law could make it, which admittedly was not very dry. Closing Time tells the story of this fascinating attempt to control the social habits of Canadian citizens. It began as a popular crusade to cleanse society of a widespread evil, but instead became an opportunity for larceny, profit, and violence on a grand scale.

Employing a variety of anecdotes and illustrations, Closing Time conjures the legal and historical context of Prohibition, presenting well-rendered figures and impressive research. Comparing the past with our present-day prohibition of certain recreational drugs, Francis explores the limits of laws that forbid these indulgences -- a topic that is quite relevant today.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre
  • Publish Date: Apr 14th, 2015
  • Pages: 192
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 9.10in - 8.60in - 1.10in - 2.10lb
  • EAN: 9781771620376
  • Categories: Canada - Post-Confederation (1867-)Social History

More books to explore

Book Cover for: Woman, Watching: Louise de Kiriline Lawrence and the Songbirds of Pimisi Bay, Merilyn Simonds
Book Cover for: I've Got a Home in Glory Land: A Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad, Karolyn Smardz Frost
Book Cover for: Beyond Bear's Paw: The Nez Perce Indians in Canada, Jerome A. Greene
Book Cover for: Canada's Forgotten Slaves: Two Centuries of Bondage, Marcel Trudel
Book Cover for: Eaton's: The Trans-Canada Store, Bruce Allen Kopytek
Book Cover for: Becoming Vancouver: A History, Daniel Francis
Book Cover for: White People, Indians, and Highlanders: Tribal People and Colonial Encounters in Scotland and America, Colin G. Calloway
Book Cover for: Chatham, Jim Gilbert
Book Cover for: Mafia Inc.: The Long, Bloody Reign of Canada's Sicilian Clan, Andre Cedilot

About the Author

Daniel Francis was born in Vancouver but worked for several years as a journalist, editor, and researcher in Ottawa and Montreal before returning to live on the west coast where he has continued his career as one of the country's leading popular historians. He has written two dozen books, principally about Canadian history, including most recently Trucking in British Columbia: An Illustrated History (Harbour Publishing, 2012). Francis was also the editorial director of the Encyclopedia of British Columbia (Harbour Publishing, 2000). He lives in North Vancouver.

More books by Daniel Francis

Book Cover for: Operation Orca: Springer, Luna and the Struggle to Save West Coast Killer Whales, Daniel Francis
Book Cover for: The Imaginary Indian: The Image of the Indian in Canadian Culture, Daniel Francis
Book Cover for: Where Mountains Meet the Sea: An Illustrated History of the District of North Vancouver, Daniel Francis
Book Cover for: National Dreams: Myth, Memory, and Canadian History, Daniel Francis
Book Cover for: The First 100 Days: 45th President of The United States of America, Donald Trump - Part 2, Daniel Francis
Book Cover for: Far West: The Story of British Columbia, Daniel Francis
Book Cover for: Becoming Vancouver: A History, Daniel Francis
Book Cover for: Seeing Reds: The Red Scare of 1918-1919: Canada's First War on Terror, Daniel Francis
Book Cover for: Trucking in British Columbia: An Illustrated History, Daniel Francis
Book Cover for: Monarchy Revived Being the Personal History of Charles the Second From his Earliest Years, Daniel Francis
Book Cover for: Fort Dunvegan, a Narrative History of, Daniel Francis
Book Cover for: Red Light Neon: A History of Vancouver's Sex Trade, Daniel Francis
Book Cover for: The First 100 Days: 45th President of the United States of America - Donald Trump - Part 1, Daniel Francis
Book Cover for: The Lightning Farmer, Daniel Francis
Book Cover for: Class Is (Always) In Session: Certain Thoughts During Uncertain Times, Daniel Francis
Book Cover for: The most difficult coloring book ever: coloring for grownups, Daniel Francis

Praise for this book


"Daniel Francis opens our eyes with Closing Time. His rendition of long-forgotten stories along the troubled border region between Canada and the US draws us into the legal wrangling, thug behavior and devious entrepreneurship that thrived, quenching thirst in both countries."

--Rick Antonson, author of Route 66 Still Kicks: Driving America's Main Street