America has been having a love affair with baseball for over 100 years. Reading this book is a way to relive the nation's collective memory of baseball through its best and worst moments.

Readers will be guided through the highlights of the game and will see over 400 stunning photographs from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum photo archives. This hall of Fame is a not-for-profit educational institution dedicated to fostering an appreciation of the historical development of baseball. Over 350,000 people travel to Cooperstown, NY each year to enjoy the museums exhibits and special events.

Nolan Ryan played for 27 seasons in the Major leagues and he was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1999. He has written a foreword filled with his memories of the game.

"I consider myself one of the lucky ones. I've spent most of my adult life making a living doing something I love." -Nolan Ryan

The text tells of little-known details and legendary records.

All I have to say is..."Do men look good in baseball uniforms or what?" Now, if my grandmother sees this book, she will steal it from me. We enjoy going to Mariner games on occasion, but if there is a game you can bet she is listening to the radio while she is cooking in the kitchen, will be found sitting in front of the TV, or is at the game.

I can't think of a better gift for a friend or relative who wants to reminisce over the classic moment in baseball. You can learn more about "The Curse of the Bambino," World Series games from 1903-1999," "The youngest Major League ballplayer," and ""The House that Ruth Built."

This is the definitive story of baseball and is told in a way no other book has told the story before. This is a chronicle of baseball's greatest conquests and defeats, its triumphs, heartaches and joys.

The strength of this book is found in the many detailed and interesting essays about the evolution of professional baseball over the last 100 years. The essays are emotionally highlighted by some of the best baseball photography you can hope to see. The book was done in cooperation with the Baseball Hall of Fame in conjunction with its 1997 photography show.

Clearly, many people will receive this book as a gift. I suggest it especially for youngsters who are developing their first interest in baseball. At that age, there is an insatiable thirst for knowledge that this wonderful volume can help to quench. Experienced fans will also enjoy receiving it, so keep it in mind for birthdays and occasions like Father's and Mother's Days.

The book is divided into five chapters:

1900-1919: A Sport . . . And A Scandal

1920-1941: The Home Run Saves the Game

1942-1960: The War and Post-War Period

1961-1974: Expansion

1975-1999: Today's Game

Each chapter begins with an essay about the entire period covered. Then the chapter highlights 20 events from that period. A brief summary begins each of the 100 events, followed by a detailed essay with numerous photographs. So you can quickly scan the book to find something that interests you (the index is good for finding your favorite players, teams, and events), and leave book marks on sections you want to return to.

The choice of subjects is varied and interesting. You get great moments in baseball (Babe Ruth "calling" his home run in the World Series, Bobbie Thompson's shot heard round the world, Roger Maris's 61st home run, and Nolan Ryan talking about his 7 no-hitters). In addition, you get historic moments like when Jackie Robinson first played for the Dodgers, the trading of Babe Ruth from the Red Sox to the Yankees, the first night game, and the first World Series. Beyond that you get the serious challenges to the game such as the Black Sox scandal, the evaporation of attendance after television coverage started, and teams moving onto new cities. You also get the oddball events like Bill Veeck's continuous promotional activities (including a midget coming to bat), the New York Giants refusing to play in the 1904 World Series because the American League was made up of "minor league teams," and games being lost because of "bonehead" plays (like a baserunner failing to touch second base on a winning hit).

I also considered the book from the perspective of someone who has been a Dodger fan for 47 years. Every moment that I most cherished from that period is highlighted somewhere in this book.

One thing that surprised me was that I had no other books about baseball as a whole before acquiring this one. I wonder how I happened to miss this way of enjoying baseball? If you are like me, you too will be glad you have a chance to enjoy your memories and acquire new and interesting information about baseball. In my case, I was fascinated to see the baseball parks in Boston that preceded Fenway Park, that were used by the Red Sox and the Braves.

The depth of this book is impressive in many ways, as well. For example, if someone did something remarkable . . . like pitch the first perfect game, that section will also list the others who have duplicated the feat, who they played for, and who won the game. Some of the great players are covered in several ways. Babe Ruth is fully displayed as a Red Sox pitcher, then as a Yankee slugger. Seeing him age and gain weight make this seem almost like a biography of him. Several Yankees get similar treatment, like Mickey Mantle.

After you have finished enjoying the book, I suggest that you find other fans who can expand your knowledge about the players and events that interest you. You can use your new-found familiarity here to probe for better information. For example, what happened to old so-and-so after he retired? What was the greatest radio sportscast of a baseball game? In that way, this book can be the beginning of more fun with baseball, not the end.

I also suggest that you take up any chance you get to play some baseball (or softball if that is more available). It's good to exercise your body as well as your eyes with baseball!

for the baseball fan this is a must.great plays captured here in there full essence&texture.when you see or read the impact of these plays you think what was i doing? the images are forever timeless you feel like they were all yesterday.so much joy&emotion from seeing them.that's why this is AMerica's Greatest Game ever.it has it all&more.the game has forever changed but it's impact is History always in the making.a great book.

It took me a long time to get started on this book, but once I did, I couldn't stop. Written in the late seventies, "Coming Out" remains timeless. The lives of Roger and Michael wind in and out of the lives of a variety of people in every class and background and deals with feelings and attitudes that are as real today as they were back then. This book is out of print, but if you find a copy used, snatch it up!

If you are a first time reader of gay novels this book will allow you to see that there is always hope for a long term and loving relationship. One of the best gay novels ever written.

One of my first reactions was to value this volume as a corrective to "Braveheart" - to which it is certainly rather weakly linked. Harry's Wallace was not stupid; he did not use a wild Highland charge against thousands of Edward's men as did the celluloid creation - without armor. Thus I appreciated the poet's description of Wallace's defensive gear - not just an occasionally-worn helmet that falls off at the onset of battle (as in Hollywood's offering ) but a helmet, steel collar, coat of mail, and even steel-plated gauntlets. Viewers of "Braveheart" also tend to come away with the impression that Wallace was (essentially) a Highlander leading clansmen to battle - which certainly cannot be concluded from Harry's account (and naming of Wallace supporters). This Luath edition of the historic epic, moreover, contains a very interesting map of "Wallace Place names" (page 225) which suggests that Wallace's support was in the South (some in the North-East) of Scotland, and not the North and West where the great Highland clans were situated. There are numerous such (major) discrepancies in the popular movie but each reader may easily and instructively discover these for himself as comparisons are made. It is only fair to add, however, that the movie might also serve as 'corrective' to the poem since the film-script does warn us, on at least two occasions, of the hyperbole that results in passing on verbal anecdotes of legendary figures and the Harry version relies, at least in part, upon such anecdotes. Randall Wallace's script (understandably, since his is an audience of different sensibilities to Harry's ) is not so obviously 'racial' in its prejudices. I had the impression (reading the bard)that I was reading the Declaration of Independence one minute and Mein Kampf the next. The "blood untainted" of Harry's Scots (see page one)is, of course, nonsense, as is the demonisation of the "Picts, Danes and Saxons" that the 'Scots' historically fought. To the knowledgable, Harry's 'English' were simply a mixture of Gaelic and Germanic elements (quite like the Scots themselves) mustered by descendants of the Norman conquerors of England (Scotland was itself already somewhat dominated by such high-flying Normans, and would continue to be, especially in and through the person of Robert Bruce and his dynasty). The introduction to this edition of "Wallace" perhaps gives the key to Harry's racial preferences. Page xvii reveals that Harry's chief patron was the Scottish king himself - descendant of Bruce's Norman royal house. Obviously the poet could not have included Normans in his enumeration of Scotland's enemies (on page one) - but the 'English' (his and Scotland's historic rivals)were fair game. Burning thousands of 'English' alive in retaliation for the perfidy of her alien leaders (in "Wallace")seems a bit unfair (though Harry interestingly indicates that the nascent Commons of England actually acted as a restraint on Longshanks). It also takes away the impact of Wallace's own horrid death which Harry (at least consistently) does not dwell upon. In short I concluded that Randall Wallace and Blind Harry had both dramatic virtues and vices. "Wallace" was both better and worse than "Braveheart". Since there is a dearth of early historical sources for Wallace's life this is certainly worth a read. It may be at least as accurate a portrayal of Scottish history, at any rate, as Shakespeare's "Macbeth" and certainly illuminates the author and his audience. Personally I felt that much of it was likely to be authentic and I greedily devoured many of Harry's details.

Are you a fan of Braveheart? Well this is the book for you. This is not only the one true written history of William Wallace, but it describes him to a T. If you are interested in Scotland, William Wallace, or even history in general, then you will want to read this book time and time again.

For the person wanting to have a balanced view of Wallace, they need to include this text. Blind Harry or Blin Hary the Minstrel is believed to live from 1440-1493. Very little is really known about him. However, he is recalled for this major achievement of gathering and recording stories of Wallace. Supposedly the first written work about Wallace. He sang or recited these stories in verse form, and it is noted that he was well received at the Renaissance Court of James IV. One must recall these tales were collected well over 100 years after Wallace's death, giving plenty of time for the legend to already take root. Many of the details of Harry's epic are very accurate, some are not (but then he certainly is a lot closer than Randall Wallace!!).
William Hamilton(c1665-1751) brought Wallace back into the minds of everyone with the translation of Blind Harry's original poem.

One needs to understand this is written from a very pro Scots point of view, and tends to see Scots as the good guys and English as the bad ones, with few areas of grey. But taken on a whole, with most of the works on Wallace stemming from English records, it gives a balanced picture in studying Wallace.