Dr. Mark Lawrence Schrad is a political scientist and historian whose work explores the global history of alcohol policy and prohibition. He is a professor of political science at Villanova University, where he studies the intersection of alcohol, politics, and social reform movements.
Schrad is the author of Smashing the Liquor Machine: A Global History of Prohibition, a sweeping historical study that challenges many of the myths surrounding prohibition and the temperance movement. Rather than portraying prohibition as a uniquely American or moralistic crusade, the book argues that anti-alcohol movements were often part of broader struggles for democracy, labor rights, and social justice around the world.
Drawing on decades of historical research, Schrad traces how political leaders and reform movements across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas sought to confront the social harms caused by alcohol and the powerful economic interests behind the global liquor trade. His work shows that temperance movements frequently overlapped with other major reform efforts of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including abolitionism, suffrage, and anti-colonial movements.
Schrad’s research pushes back against the common narrative that prohibition was simply a failed moral experiment. Instead, he frames alcohol regulation as a long-running political struggle between public health advocates and a powerful alcohol industry.
In Please Drink Responsibly, Schrad provides historical context for today’s debates about alcohol, explaining how modern drinking culture — and the policies surrounding it — were shaped by centuries of political conflict, reform movements, and industry influence.
Learn More:
https://villanova.academia.edu/MarkSchrad
https://www.international.ucla.edu/burkle/article/260082
Book Review: Smashing The Liquor Machine - A Global History of Prohibitionism