As the Mexican revolution slowly bled out in the streets of Juarez and elsewhere, the 18th Amendment was enacted in the USA, bringing Prohibition, an El Paso building boom, and an explosion of vice and crime on the border. Hordes of alcohol-deprived, California-bound American tourists disembarked from trains, checked into spanking new El Paso hotels and spent a few nights in the new entertainment hub of Juarez. Many tourists came to enjoy the legal alcohol and cheap steaks, perhaps pausing to shop for cheap leather goods and trinkets in Mexican shops adjacent to the Rio Grande or at the open air Juarez mercado. Others enjoyed Mariachi or Dixieland bands in the Juarez night clubs where they could dance through the night to the latest dance crazes of the 1920’s. If tastes ran elsewhere, gambling was available in casinos and at the Juarez Race Track, and, for those with strong stomachs, the cock fights and the bull ring offered bloodier fare. Some just came to obtain quicky divorces, but many came to enjoy more illicit pursuits. Brothels and addictive drugs were within easy reach. Pimps buttonholed male visitors the moment they stepped into Juarez.There was no doubt that the El Paso/Juarez border region was an exciting place in the Prohibition years—perhaps TOO exciting.A Bridge Apart reveals a true story, made possible by the revelation of a fifty year old secret concerning the love story of two high school sweethearts, a love story turned upside down by border violence during Prohibition and the Depression, and which ultimately involved the highest levels in the American and Mexican governments.