Since Prohibition was federally mandated, it’s in no way unexpected that it impacted Cape May County. Far more surprising however is the extent to which it did. With miles of coastline, much of it undeveloped marshland while the law was in effect, our area proved to be a prime landing point for smugglers, with the waters off the Wildwood coast even earning the nickname of “Rum Row” due to the volume of boats parked offshore that were involved in the crime.

Featuring a host of colorful characters, many with last names that remain attached to area roads, landmarks, and historic structures, as well as a host of raids that often involved high speed chases on both land and sea and which even occasionally ended in violence, this ought to make for riveting reading. Alas, Rebmann’s writing—while once or twice peppered with a wry aside—is largely and somewhat aptly comprised of a dry, list-like recitation of facts. That may make the book useful as a historical record of the era, but it prevents it from standing out in the way much modern narrative nonfiction does, keeping the reader from becoming fully engaged with the material.

Broken into chapters that each summarize the developments around the rather impressively large bootlegging operation that developed in the county each year from 1920 through 1933, it’s easy to follow along despite the rather large cast of players. It’s understandable why the author didn’t want to try and inject his own interpretations of the characters’ personalities onto them, but had he done so it might have made them easier to trace over the years and helped to add a bit more of a narrative throughline to the proceedings.

Despite those issues, I did find myself eagerly returning to the book to learn more about how the illegal alcohol business and its enemies in law enforcement functioned in our community around a century ago—though the style makes me wonder how much of it I’ll ultimately retain. It certainly would have been more fun as a historical fiction saga, but anyone with an interest in local history would be well-served to give this a look. ★★★