A Thousand Thirsty Beaches

Lisa Lindquist Dorr is professor of history at the University of Alabama and author of White Women, Rape, and the Power of Race in Virginia, 1900–1960.
For more information about Lisa Lindquist Dorr, visit the Author Page.

"Examines liquor smuggling, consumption, and law enforcement in the US South during Prohibition. . . . An insightful study."—H-Net Reviews

"Dorr's book is a wonderful addition to the literature on Prohibition. Her counterintuitive findings on the ways in which Prohibition impacted not just how much people drank but the places and ways in which they drank, as well as the impact that Prohibition had on the poor . . . are worthy of further exploration. Her work on Cuba and the ways in which the U.S. attempted to force Cuban officials to enforce Prohibition are also a welcome addition to the literature on the ways in which the U.S. has increasingly tried to extend its jurisdiction and power into the sovereign spaces of other nations."—Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books

"A Thousand Thirsty Beaches provides excellent context for anyone—student or scholar—looking to understand the complicated processes of illicit and licit trade connecting the United States with the Caribbean."—New West Indian Guide

"Throws open our geographic understanding of Prohibition in the American South by constructing a transnational narrative of liquor smugglers and the cat-and-mouse game of federal enforcement that followed them in the United States. . . . Dorr not only captures how Prohibition functioned in the South, but she also reveals the many ways it transformed the South, the United States, and much of American foreign policy."—Journal of Southern History

"Dorr's book is unique, surprising, well written, and thoroughly researched. It broadens the history of southern alcohol use into the Caribbean, details the complications and frustrations of enforcement, and builds a broad narrative."--Ted Ownby, University of Mississippi

"Dorr reveals aspects of Prohibition enforcement that have not been explored before. The book is richly and deeply researched."--Lisa McGirr, Harvard University