California state Attorney General and Democratic candidate for governor Jerry Brown has recently displayed a dangerous lack of knowledge about basic economics and the likely effects of marijuana legalization.

Daniel Okrent was the first public editor of “The New York Times.” In his new book “Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition,” he tells the fascinating and often-overlooked story of Prohibition. Despite being one of the most important issues in the country for decades and a dominant force in our nation’s politics, the history of Prohibition is little known to most Americans.