During the film 'The Untouchables,' it is easy to see the violence of the gangs that were around in the time of Prohibition. The theme of gang violence is evident in the reading of 'Prohibition: The Lie of the Land', but not so much in 'Ardent Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition.'
             Prohibition was put in to practice in the passing of the 18th Amendment in 1919. The Volstead act, which it was named, made it illegal to drink and make alcohol. It was thought that in making alcohol illegal it would make the country of America a better and safer place to live in. But the reaction was not what was expected. People found ways to get alcohol weather it be by smuggling it in form other countries or making their own. There was rise violence as especially within gangs that were at war with each other over bootlegging.
             The reading that have been set are Prohibition: 'The Lie of the Land', by Sean Dennis Cashman, and 'Ardent Spirits: the Rise and Fall of Prohibition', by John Kobler. These two readings inform the reader about what happen during the years of Prohibition from the 1920 to the early 1930's. The first, 'Law of the Land', is centred on prohibition in the city of Chicago. It concentrated mostly on the gangsters that made millions out of prohibition, like Al Capone and Johnny Torrio. The other, 'Ardent Spirits' focus more on various cities in America and how everyday people were still able to get the hands on alcohol weather buying it from speakeasies or making their own. The readings give a more in depth look at the under world of crime and the gangsters that were also seen in the movie 'The Untouchables.'
             In Cashman's reading he focuses mainly on the city of Chicago and the gangsters that were involved in the bootlegging business, such as Al Capone and Jim Colosimo. Cashman gives background information on Capone and the beer wars...