Johnson (history, Southern Arkansas U.) examines the vigorous anti-alcohol spirit of Arkansas from colonial times to the present debates about private club licenses. Contrary to some perceptions of Arkansas as a moonshiner's paradise, temperance movements started early in the state's history, centered on keeping alcohol from Native Americans. The confederate state banned distilleries to conserve grain for war use, and officials committed resources to breaking up stills even during the war years. The Women's Christian Temperance Union and the like succeeded in making Arkansas dry by 1915, and it was only the desperate need to raise revenue that drove the state to allow sales of alcohol in liquor stores after 1935. Even today, the majority of Arkansas counties are dry. Johnson was the curator of the award-winning exhibit of the same name in Little Rock from 2003 to 2005, and makes ample use of its period documents and illustrations. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)