The Bootlegger

Reads like a novel, but functions as a portrait of small-town America emerging from frontier status into the corruption and violence of the Jazz age.

Functions as a portrait of small-town America emerging from frontier status into the corruption and violence of the Jazz age. This account of a struggling midwestern coal town profiles small-time bootlegger Kelly Wagle, whose mysterious career, and suspected involvement with two unsolved murder cases, had a lasting impact on his community.This extraordinary account of a struggling midwestern coal town profiles small-time bootlegger Kelly Wagle, whose mysterious career--and suspected involvement with two unsolved murder cases--had a profound and lasting impact on his community. In unraveling the process by which Colchester, Illinois, lost its grip on the American promise, John Hallwas reveals this remote corner of the Midwest as a true reflection of the quintessential American experience.