This work investigates the rise and societal impact of organized crime in the United States during the Prohibition era. Kenneth Allsop, a British journalist, utilizes historical records and contemporary accounts to analyze how the Volstead Act facilitated the growth of criminal syndicates. The text argues that the intersection of law enforcement failure and public demand for illicit alcohol fundamentally altered the American social landscape.

Historians and crime researchers frequently cite this work as a comprehensive account of the Prohibition era's criminal underworld. Readers often note the journalistic clarity of the prose, which balances historical rigor with a narrative focus on the figures involved.