1941--The Greatest Year In Sports: Two Baseball Legends, Two Boxing Champs, and the Unstoppable Thoroughbred Who Made History in the Shadow of War [B1355]

2008 PB in nice clean condition. Joe DiMaggio . . . Ted Williams . . . Joe Louis . . . Billy Conn . . . Whirlaway. Against the backdrop of a war that threatened to consume the world, these athletes transformed 1941 into one of the most thrilling years in sports history. In the summer of 1941, America paid attention to sports with an intensity that had never been seen before. World War II was raging in Europe and headlines grew worse by the day; even the most optimistic people began to accept the inevitability of the United States being drawn into the conflict. In sports pages and arenas at home, however, an athletic perfect storm provided unexpected-and uplifting-relief. Four phenomenal sporting events were underway, each destined to become legend. In 1941-The Greatest Year in Sports, acclaimed sportswriter Mike Vaccaro chronicles this astounding moment in history. Fueled by a somber mania for sports-a desire for good news to drown out the bad-Americans by the millions fervently watched, listened, and read as Joe DiMaggio dazzled the country by hitting in a record-setting fifty-six consecutive games; Ted Williams powered through an unprecedented .406 season; Joe Louis and Billy Conn (the heavyweight and light-heavyweight champions) battled in unheard-of fashion for boxing's ultimate championship; and the phenomenal (some say deranged) thoroughbred, Whirlaway, raced to three heart-stopping victories that won the coveted Triple Crown of horse racing. As Phil Rizzuto perfectly expressed, "You read the sports section a lot because you were afraid of what you'd see in other parts of the paper." Rich in historical detail and edge-of-your-seat reporting, Mike Vaccaro has crafted a lasting, important book that captures a portrait of one of America's most trying, and extraordinary, eras.

From recent-ish Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "I really enjoyed both writing and story. The author focused a lot on baseball and even when I am not a baseball fan and don't understand the players' statistics, I really really enjoyed the story. I loved the way Vaccario conveyed the nation's sentiment at the time and the bits of historical facts. History and sports very nicely woven together."; "This book covers so much more than sports. Any historical buff will enjoy this book."; "Baccarat is an excellent storyteller, and he uses many quotes from actual daily newspaper stories to capture the excitement of the nation with baseball, boxing and horse racing, and adds interviews from the people to create a well-rounded perspective. The takeaway: DiMagggio, Williams, Louis, and others were incredible athletes and characters. What made the book even more important to me was the parallel story of WWII and the (dis)interest of the the US, until the US had to be interested on Dec 7. I learned a lot about Charles Lindbergh and his fight with FDR to stay out of the affairs of Europe. The back and forth between the sports season and the season of war and the impact of the war on the great players, and the impact of sports (and Times Square) on a nation in pain was fascinating. I highly recommend."