On January 17, 1920, America went completely dry. The 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution had been ratified a year earlier, prohibiting "the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors" within the United States and its territories. This marked the beginning of the Prohibition Era, a 14-year period of lawbreaking unprecedented in our nation's history, fueled by bootleggers, gangs, easy talk, and mafias. The 18th Amendment was rare in that it limited the rights of the individual rather than the activities of government, thereby ensuring unfavorable reception and backlash. “Last Call” The Rise and Fall of Prohibition was written by Daniel Okrent and published in May 2010 and is a historical explanation of the Prohibition era. The 18th Amendment's ban has the distinction of being the only constitutional amendment ever repealed. This fact begs the question: how did this happen? Why would Americans sacrifice their precious right to drink? “Last Call” provides the answers and explanations to these two questions as well as the historical perspective on the Prohibition Era. Daniel Okrent, author of four other books and the first editor of The New York Times, sees Prohibition as one clash in a larger war waged by small-town white Protestants who felt overwhelmed by the forces of change sweeping their nation . . He explains that this is a theory that was first proposed by historian Richard Hofstadter over fifty years ago. Although many books and historical accounts have been written since then about Prohibition, Okrent offers an original account, one that shows how its advocates combined the nativist fears of many Americans with legitimate concerns about the medium of paper. ..years ago, the amount of Americans who drink regularly was reduced. Something that would have been nice to read, but was left out of the book, was whether or not certain social classes were more heavily targeted by Prohibition. It would have been interesting to see how the restrictions and enforcement of restrictions by the upper classes varied compared to those of the lower classes. Overall, I liked the book because it was written in an easy to understand way that still included the important points of the Prohibition era. “Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition” by Daniel Okrent is a book I would recommend to anyone trying to learn more about one of the most politically corrupt eras in our country. I hate to say it, but if someone suddenly took alcohol away from a society accustomed to its legality, I'd probably also find myself a member of a speakeasy for years 1920..