Throughout history, laws of prohibition have existed to protect people alongside a legitimate, free market; yet illicit markets have developed and flourished. This book examines historical attempts at prohibition throughout human history and, relatively more recently, prohibition of alcohol at the beginning of the twentieth century. With prohibition, many took to their bathtubs, brewing up concoctions, while others developed sophisticated supply chains through Canada. While prohibition was designed to curtail consumption of alcohol to encourage a purer, righteous society, the result was the reverse. Organized criminal networks increased in strength, eventually challenging the authority of the state and its institutions through corruption and violence. Criminal networks became wealthy because, like good entrepreneurs, they took a risk, invested money, developed product lines, and expanded the business once challenges, and challengers, arose. Business quickly spread into other illegal areas such as prostitution, gambling, extortion, and small arms. The Thompson submachine gun was the weapon of choice for any up-and-coming gangster. Weapons were of course necessary to protect your way of life—and life. If one had a complaint, one could not go to the police; you had to be the police. Enforcement through violence quickly became the norm and militias, most notably the soldiers of the Cosa Nostra effectively “ran” the city usurping the authority of the state.