The Confessions of a Rum-Runner

The Confessions of a Rum-Runner

by Eric Sherbrooke Walker
The Confessions of a Rum-Runner

The Confessions of a Rum-Runner

by Eric Sherbrooke Walker

Paperback(First Edition, First)

$14.95 
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Overview

The names have been changed to protect the guilty, but this is an otherwise-authentic firsthand account of liquor smuggling during Prohibition. Crackling with excitement and adventure, it ranges from "Rum Row" — where boats anchor beyond the three-mile limit until their illicit cargo can be transferred to speedboats and delivered into the eager hands of bootleggers — to backwoods cabin hideaways and society drawing rooms. Danger haunts every step of the way, from the perils of choppy seas and attack by hijackers to the ever-present possibilities of capture by the authorities or betrayal by criminal associates.
Author Eric Sherbrooke Walker, who amassed a fortune from his clandestine enterprise, published these memoirs under a pseudonym in 1928. An Oxford graduate and a decorated World War I veteran, Walker recounts his narrow escapes and hard bargains in the tone of an English gentleman. The lingo of his underworld cronies enlivens his narrative, along with his droll asides on American character and customs. This insider's view of a Prohibition-era racket offers fascinating glimpses of a lively historical era as well as rollicking entertainment.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780486804606
Publisher: Dover Publications
Publication date: 08/17/2016
Edition description: First Edition, First
Pages: 320
Product dimensions: 5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Oxford alumnus Eric Sherbrooke Walker (1887–1976) was a decorated WWI officer. During Prohibition, he smuggled liquor into the United States and fled to Canada after wounding the state trooper who attempted to steal his cache of whiskey. In 1928 he published this memoir under the pseudonym James Barbican.

Table of Contents

Chapter I How I Turned Smuggler 1

Chapter II A Visit to a Rum-Ship 18

Chapter III Back in America 28

Chapter IV Running in the First Cargo 43

Chapter V We Meet the Hijackers 59

Chapter VI Cocktails, Clubs, and Chemists 69

Chapter VII Watched By the Police 84

Chapter VIII A Debauch 93

Chapter IX Difficulties and Failures 101

Chapter X The Secret Rooms 110

Chapter XI The Return of the Mermaid 116

Chapter XII The Mermaid Found 130

Chapter XIII A Shake-Down 139

Chapter XIV Aeroplanes and Smuggling 148

Chapter XV Taking Out the Mail 156

Chapter XVI Hank's Offensive 165

Chapter XVII The Voyage of the Horsa 176

Chapter XVIII Maisie the Bootlegger 185

Chapter XIX The Prairie Schooner 194

Chapter XX The Hijackers Score 202

Chapter XXI The Battle With the Hijackers 217

Chapter XXII Escaping the Police 238

Chapter XXIII Tales of a Supercargo 255

Chapter XXIV A Tough Guy 263

Chapter XXV The Bootleggers' Ball 270

Chapter XXVI An Unlucky Load 274

Chapter XXVII Bootleggers I Have Known 282

Chapter XXVIII Judges 289

Chapter XXIX Strike-Breaking 293

Chapter XXX The Bombardment of the Eastwood 299

Notes 307

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