George Remus was actually the Prohibition King. He was richer than any of the mob and his influence even went as far as officers of the revenues, the ones who were ordered to destroy his operations as well as others. Having them on his side he knew when a raid was happening and when to move his supply. He was able to buy distilleries because of a loophole in the Volstead act and him being an attorney and a pharmacist this was legal for him. At one time he owned some of the most famous ones as well. He also threw elaborate and twice give the women who were leaving the party cars as gifts.
Once he was taken down he made his wife power of attorney and while in prison he found out that she was with another man. When he got out he went after his wife and shot her in a park and was able to get off because of a lack of witnesses coming forward. This was a fascinating story of a man who took the law and made it work for him for some time until like everything greed and deception took over. A very good book.

Batchelor does a deep dive into Remus’ life. He fleshes out Remus and Imogene more than previous authors and really brings their lives into focus. You feel like you’re running booze or attending one of their crazy parties. It’s an entertaining read overflowing with information. I highly recommend it.

I'm always up for a good nonfiction book, especially one that introduces me to a new character from history. This one was simply poorly-written. Every time I started to find a groove it would jump and to another rut. I could not finish this book.

The bourbon king: the life and crimes of George Remus by Bob Batchelor diversion publishing.
The story of ambition, greed, daring, love, loss..The American Dream. Still don’t know if he was really broken in the end, a real psychopath or so cunning.

A few questions I have now. How did he see ww2 as a German American. What cigars did he smoke?

Really enjoyed the read. A must read for Bourbon, prohibition, or local history enthusiasts. The tale of this man can’t be topped by modern celebrities. This man touched millions of lives whether they knew his name or not. Still touching lives almost 150 years later since his name is back on bottles of “the good stuff.”

I apologize for a late review as I have been traveling out of the country.

I had heard about this story from my mother who was reminded about it when she read the NY Times review. My family is from Cincinnati and many still live there. After reading the NY Times review, I thought it would be fun to read a little of the Queen City's history plus I love a good Bourbon.

Batchelor has done great research on the inter-workings of the bootlegging "industry" as well as painting larger than life characters. As the saying goes, "everyone has a price" and this holds true for those who were to uphold the Volstead Act and the law going up the food change to US Cabinet members.

While I enjoyed the book, I think another edit is in order. There were areas where too much repetition occurred. A sentence for the reader to flash back onto what was explained earlier in the book would be enough reference.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

I received a free copy for review from Netgalley.

This was an interesting, deep read about one of the biggest personalities in prohibition. The story was deep, well researched, and engaging. This is one you will want to re read, because there’s a lot to unpack in this- but that’s what’s great about this. Sometimes you can read once and be done, but this is still good on the next read as you see the intricacies as they come and know what to pay attention to the next time through.