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From National Book Award winner Martin W. Sandler and his son, a fascinating look at the intersection of baseball and society in America on the eve of World War II.In 1941, as America stood on the brink of World War II, the country was in sore need of a diversion at home. They found exactly that on the baseball diamond, where the rivalry between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees captivated fans as superstars Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio went head to head, breaking every record imaginable.
But the pastime known as "America's game" wasn't really a game that welcomed everyone: Black citizens were segregated into the widely dismissed Negro Leagues, and though women had played baseball for years, they struggled for acceptance and to establish a professional league of their own. As the country reached a turning point, so, too, did the sport of baseball--and after 1941, neither would ever be the same.
Through extensive archival photographs and thrilling accounts of the game and the country that became obsessed with it, Martin W. Sandler and Craig Sandler vividly portray the season that would change baseball forever.
About the author
Martin W. Sandler is the author of
Imprisoned,
Lincoln Through the Lens, The Dust Bowl Through the Lens, and
Kennedy Through the Lens. He has won five Emmy Awards for his writing for television and is the author of more than sixty books, two of which have been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Among Sandler's other books are the six volumes in his award-winning Library of Congress American History Series for Young People, a series which has sold more than 500,000 copies. Other books by Mr. Sandler include:
Island of Hope: The Story of Ellis Island,
Trapped in Ice,
The Story of American Photography,
The Vaqueros,
America: A Celebration, and
This Was America. Mr. Sandler has taught American history and American studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and at Smith College, and lives in Massachusetts.
