Synopses & Reviews
With incredible skill, passion, and insight, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Halberstam returns us to a glorious time when the dreams of a now almost forgotten America rested on the crack of a bat.
The year was 1949, and a war-weary nation turned from the battlefields to the ball fields in search of new heroes. It was a summer that marked the beginning of a sports rivalry unequaled in the annals of athletic competition. The awesome New York Yankees and the indomitable Boston Red Sox were fighting for supremacy of baseball's American League, and an aging Joe DiMaggio and a brash, headstrong hitting phenomenon named Ted Williams led their respective teams in a classic pennant duel of almost mythic proportions one that would be decided in an explosive head-to-head confrontation on the last day of the season.
Review
"It is a study of all the elements and personalities that influenced baseball that year and beyond. Halberstam brings them together in such an enjoyable, interesting, and informative manner that a reader needn't be a baseball fan to appreciate the book." Library Journal
Review
"Dazzling...heart-stopping...altogether engrossing....A celebration of a vanished heroic age." The New York Times Book Review
Review
"The national pastime at its most innocent, heroic best....David Halberstam brings the era vividly to life." Washington Post Book World
Review
"In a league by itself....A superb re-creation of a legendary summer of baseball and of a time and a place that once was America." Detroit News
Review
"A gorgeous story with personalities and anecdotes jam-packing every page." Newsweek
Review
"A very special book....Even if you're not a baseball fan, this is an exciting story." Wall Street Journal
Synopsis
"Dazzling...A celebration of a vanished heroic age and a 'simpler America' " --New York Times Book Review
David Halberstam's classic chronicle of baseball's most magnificent season, as seen through the battle royal between Joe DiMaggio's Yankees and Ted Williams's Red Sox for the hearts of a nation.
The year was 1949, and a war-wearied nation turned from the battlefields to the ball fields in search of new heroes. It was a summer that marked the beginning of a sports rivalry unequaled in the annals of athletic competition. The awesome New York Yankees and the indomitable Boston Red Sox were fighting for supremacy of baseball's American League and an aging Joe DiMaggio and a brash, headstrong hitting phenomenon named Ted Williams led their respective teams in a classic pennant duel of almost mythic proportions--one that would be decided in an explosive head-to-head confrontation on the last day of the season.
With incredible skill, passion and insight, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Halberstam returns us to that miraculous summer--and to a glorious time when the dreams of a now almost forgotten America rested on the crack of a bat.
About the Author
David Halberstam was one of America's most distinguished journalists and historians. He covered the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement and reported for the New York Times on the war in Vietnam. The author of fifteen bestsellers, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his Vietnam reporting. He was killed in a car accident on April 23, 2007, while on his way to an interview for what was to be his next book.