Whisky Wars of the Canadian West
Fifty Years of Battles Against the Bottle
- Publisher
- Heritage House Publishing
- Initial publish date
- Apr 2012
- Category
- North America, Social History
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781926613932
- Publish Date
- Apr 2012
- List Price
- $9.95
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781926936994
- Publish Date
- Apr 2012
- List Price
- $7.99
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Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age: 15
- Grade: 10
Description
In 1874, the newly formed North West Mounted Police marched west to shut down unscrupulous liquor traders who had devastated the lives of many First Nations people. The Mounties' famous trek heralded over 50 years of "whisky wars" in the Canadian West. Author Rich Mole traces the turbulent history of alcohol, temperance movements and prohibition between 1870 and the 1920s through the stories of those who suffered and profited from the West's insatiable thirst for liquor. Before prohibition, young James Gray was one of many Winnipeg children who endured poverty and humiliation due to an alcoholic father. Calgary newspaperman Bob Edwards, known for his witty aphorisms, publicly supported prohibition while waging his own battle with the bottle. Harry Bronfman, "King of the Boozoriums," built a business empire shipping mail-order liquor on both sides of the Canada–US border. Rum-runner "Emperor" Emilio Picariello and his housekeeper, Florence Lassandro, faced the gallows after an Alberta police constable was shot and killed in front of his own children. Mole's vivid, real-life stories chronicle a tumultuous and fascinating era.
About the author
British Columbia-born author Rich Mole has enjoyed an eclectic communications career, as a former broadcaster, a freelance journalist, and, for 20 years, the president of a successful Vancouver Island advertising agency. A lifelong fascination with history has fuelled his desire to write about the times and people of Canada's past. Rich now makes his home in Calgary, Alberta.
Librarian Reviews
Whisky Wars of the Canadian West: Fifty Years of Battles Against the Bottle
This book chronicles the “whisky wars” in western Canada. In the late 1800s, North West Mounted Police were sent in to shut down unscrupulous liquor traders and enforce new laws. Plebiscites ushered in prohibition resulting in bar closures and the opening of government-controlled dispensaries. By 1916 Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba were formally “dry” but wars continued to wage between the “wets” and “drys”. The Prohibition Era meant easy money for brewers, liquor distributors, bootleggers and rum-runners. Enterprising men like the Bronfmans made their fortune shipping mail-order liquor. By 1924 prairie provinces repealed prohibition opting for government controls, regulations and revenues.Source: The Association of Book Publishers of BC. BC Books for BC Schools. 2012-2013.
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