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Baseball

Read by Ken Burns
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On sale Sep 21, 2010 | 6 Hours and 52 Minutes | 9780307876942
Grades 9-12

The companion to Ken Burns’s magnificent PBS television series—updated and expanded to coincide with the broadcast of a new, two-part Tenth Inning directed with Lynn Novick.

The authors of the acclaimed and best-selling The Civil War, Jazz, and The War turn to another uniquely American phenomenon: baseball. Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns’s moving and fascinating history of the game goes beyond stolen bases, double plays, and home runs to demonstrate how baseball has been influenced by, and has in turn influenced, American life. The book covers every milestone of the game: from the rules drawn up in 1845 by Alexander Cartwright to the American League’s introduction of the designated hitter in 1973; from the 1924 Negro World Series to Jack Roosevelt Robinson’s major-league debut in 1947; from the first curve ball in 1867 to Nolan Ryan’s seventh and last no-hitter in 1991. This new edition brings the authors’ monumental work into the twenty-first century: steroids, home-run records, the rise of Latino players, the long-awaited Red Sox World Series victory, and so much more. Baseball is an audiobook that speaks to all Americans.

“A rich concoction of narrative, essays, and photos [that] dazzles the eye.... In so many ways you are reminded that rooting for baseball is like breathing.” —The New York Times

“Stirring and reflective.... A beautiful book that stands on its own in any league.” —David E. Jones, Chicago Tribune

“Glorious nuggets are set amid the clear, warm narrative and hundreds of classic images.... Highest marks for browseability, but the true reward comes from the longer essays by folks still smitten by the game.” —USA Today
© Goverdhan Singh Rathore
Geoffrey C. Ward, historian and screenwriter, is the author of sixteen books, including A First-Class Temperament: The Emergence of Franklin Roosevelt, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Francis Parkman Prize, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He has written or cowritten many documentary films, including The War, The Civil War, Baseball, The West, Mark Twain, Not for Ourselves Alone, and Jazz.   View titles by Geoffrey C. Ward
© Michael Avedon
KEN BURNS, the producer and director of numerous film series, including Vietnam, The Roosevelts, and The War, founded his own documentary film company, Florentine Films, in 1976. His landmark film The Civil War was the highest-rated series in the history of American public television, and his work has won numerous prizes, including the Emmy and Peabody Awards, and two Academy Award nominations. He lives in Walpole, New Hampshire. View titles by Ken Burns

About

The companion to Ken Burns’s magnificent PBS television series—updated and expanded to coincide with the broadcast of a new, two-part Tenth Inning directed with Lynn Novick.

The authors of the acclaimed and best-selling The Civil War, Jazz, and The War turn to another uniquely American phenomenon: baseball. Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns’s moving and fascinating history of the game goes beyond stolen bases, double plays, and home runs to demonstrate how baseball has been influenced by, and has in turn influenced, American life. The book covers every milestone of the game: from the rules drawn up in 1845 by Alexander Cartwright to the American League’s introduction of the designated hitter in 1973; from the 1924 Negro World Series to Jack Roosevelt Robinson’s major-league debut in 1947; from the first curve ball in 1867 to Nolan Ryan’s seventh and last no-hitter in 1991. This new edition brings the authors’ monumental work into the twenty-first century: steroids, home-run records, the rise of Latino players, the long-awaited Red Sox World Series victory, and so much more. Baseball is an audiobook that speaks to all Americans.

Reviews

“A rich concoction of narrative, essays, and photos [that] dazzles the eye.... In so many ways you are reminded that rooting for baseball is like breathing.” —The New York Times

“Stirring and reflective.... A beautiful book that stands on its own in any league.” —David E. Jones, Chicago Tribune

“Glorious nuggets are set amid the clear, warm narrative and hundreds of classic images.... Highest marks for browseability, but the true reward comes from the longer essays by folks still smitten by the game.” —USA Today

Author

© Goverdhan Singh Rathore
Geoffrey C. Ward, historian and screenwriter, is the author of sixteen books, including A First-Class Temperament: The Emergence of Franklin Roosevelt, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Francis Parkman Prize, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He has written or cowritten many documentary films, including The War, The Civil War, Baseball, The West, Mark Twain, Not for Ourselves Alone, and Jazz.   View titles by Geoffrey C. Ward
© Michael Avedon
KEN BURNS, the producer and director of numerous film series, including Vietnam, The Roosevelts, and The War, founded his own documentary film company, Florentine Films, in 1976. His landmark film The Civil War was the highest-rated series in the history of American public television, and his work has won numerous prizes, including the Emmy and Peabody Awards, and two Academy Award nominations. He lives in Walpole, New Hampshire. View titles by Ken Burns