Robert Timberg weaves together the lives of Annapolis graduates John McCain, James Webb, Oliver North, Robert McFarlane, and John Poindexter to reveal how the Vietnam War continues to haunt America. Casting all five men as metaphors for a legion of well-meaning if ill-starred warriors, Timberg probes the fault line between those who fought the war and those who used money, wit, and connections to avoid battle. A riveting tale that illuminates the flip side of the fabled Vietnam generation:...

From the author of the critically acclaimed book The Nightingale Song comes an evocative and personal portrait of America during the time between the Good War and Vietnam.Reviving the powerful themes of courage, manhood, and loss, Robert Timberg returns for his second book with a strikingly personal exploration of the generation that split along the fault line known as Vietnam.Using as a backdrop the New York City sandlot football team he played fo...

"Covering many of the biggest names and greatest events in sports, it's a wonderful collection of yarns and reminiscences, told in Perk's inimitable style" ( Postmedia News ).Dave Perkins was once told by a bluntly helpful university admissions officer: "You don't have the looks for TV or the voice for radio. You should go into print." Which he did, first at the Globe and Mail, and then for thirty-six well-travel...

This autobiography of the legendary boxing trainer and commentator "is a winner, on all cards, from the first to the final bell" ( The Boston Globe).In this gritty, spellbinding tale, Atlas recounts his fascinating life—as a juvenile delinquent on the streets of Staten Island; as a boxer and Golden Gloves champion under the tutelage of famed trainer Cus D'Amato; as a companion to the dangerous, unpredictable Sammy "the Bull" Gravano, up until the day Gravan...

Batter up--here comes the most memorable collection of anecdotes about the national pastime ever assembled. Tales from the Dugout brings together never-before-told stories from baseball personalities such as Roger Maris, Ken Griffey Jr., Pete Rose, Phil Rizzuto, and Gaylord Perry in this illustrated, one-of-a-kind compendium.

Jimmy Breslin’s nostalgic, rollicking look back at the worst baseball team in historyFive years after the Dodgers and Giants fled New York for California, the city’s National League fans were offered salvation in the shape of the New York Mets: an expansion team who, in the spring of 1962, attempted to play something resembling the sport of baseball.Helmed by the sagacious Casey Stengel and staffed by the league’s detritus, the new Mets played 162 games and...

It all comes down to making the right life choices,” says the NHL’s legendary Reggie Leach, and this intimate biography lays bare the decisions that led him to become one of the best snipers in hockey history. Nicknamed the Riverton Rifle for his thrilling speed and deadly shooting skills, Leach overcame a childhood marked by poverty and racism to rise through the NHL, playing for the Stanley Cup-winning 1975 Philadelphia Flyers. Through Leach’s own recollections, The Riverton Rifle

The book that inspired Harrison Ford in his portrayal of Branch Rickey in the hit movie “42”The idea of integrating baseball began as a dream in the mind of Branch Rickey. In 1947, as president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, he defied racism on and off the field to bring Jackie Robinson into the major leagues, changing the sport and the nation forever. Rickey's is the classic American tale of a poor boy from Ohio whose deep-seated faith and dogged wor...

"A funny, revealing, Ball Four–like romp through mid-seventies baseball" from the longtime sports columnist and author of The Last Real Season ( Booklist).You think your team is bad? In this "disastrously hilarious" work on one of the most tortured franchises in baseball, one reporter discovers that nine innings can feel like an eternity ( USA Today).In early 1973, gonzo sportswriter Mike Shropshire agreed to cover the Tex...

The first major biography of an American icon, comedian Bill Cosby. Based on extensive research and in-depth interviews with Cosby and more than sixty of his closest friends and associates, it is a frank, fun and fascinating account of his life and historic legacy.Far from the gentle worlds of his routines or TV shows, Cosby grew up in a Philadelphia housing project, the son of an alcoholic, largely absent father and a loving but overworked mother. With novelistic ...

Legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardis public image is one of almost superhuman dimensions. His many victories with the Green Bay Packers, culminating with three consecutive Super Bowl victories, and five in seven years, were just the cherry on the sundae. During his life, he had morphed from a winning football coach to something far more significant. In the turmoil and upheaval of the 1960s, Lombardi was seen as the personification of old-fashioned values. Totally improbably, President Richa...

In The ESPN Mighty Book of Sports Knowledge, Steve Wulf, acclaimed author and founding editor of ESPN The Magazine, delivers an arena’s worth of sporting wisdom, trivia, best-of lists, curiosities, legendary feats, and sacred objects–from the magic of Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech to the lore of hockey’s Stanley Cup to the art of the perfectly thrown Wiffle Ball pitch. Written to remind us all why we love the games, this indispensable reference features contributio...