Preston Lauterbach’s history of Beale Street, the three-block stretch of Memphis thoroughfare that was a microcosm of American culture from Reconstruction to World War II, is a chronicle of muddy streets, ornery hombres, fancy women, jazz, a disregard for the little law that existed, and a thirst for profit, be it from whiskey, a flourishing sex trade or political corruption, singly and in combination.Read full article >>