War in Illinois

About this book

Yet another book about Prohibition this time in rural Illinois where rival gangs of bootleggers fought for supremacy and the Ku Klux Klan was charged with keeping order. One gang went so far as to bomb their rivals headquarters from an airplane and it was this incident which led Donald Bain--whose earlier efforts included another sort of airplane saga Coffee Tea or Me--to investigate the whole period. Unfortunately the airplane bombing is not strong enough to support an entire book especially since it is buried some 200 pages into this over-long tale. Its Charlie Birgers gang vs. the Shelton Brothers against a backdrop of murders and Klan raids with popular support on the side of the Klan. When a number of Klansmen are indicted for everything from malicious mischief to assault with intent to murder 3 000 townspeople rally at a local church and post over $3 million in bonds ""for the accused."" This book started out to be a novel and while Bain admits to taking ""certain liberties with putting words in my characters mouths"" and to compressing time he swears the facts are true based on research in Southern Illinois libraries. The problem is that true or juiced up the book has nothing to say.