Description
Book SynopsisDuring the Civil War, Americans from homefront to battlefront played baseball as never before. This work gives us a commentary of the growth and transformation of baseball. It shows that the game was a vital part of the lives of many a soldier and civilian - and that baseball's popularity had everything to do with surging American nationalism.
Trade Review"Kirsch examines the emerging organizational sophistication of urban and collegiate baseball on the home front, and he sketches out the social and racial contours of what was already often seen as the national game... A careful scholar, he savors using evidence to demolish myth."--Choice "The book is a pleasure to read, and deserves numerous votes for the current literary All-Star Game."--David Wee, American Historical Review "George P. Kirsch has written an interesting, readable book about the sport's growth during the Civil War that teaches readers how the game evolved into the national pastime."--Jeff Diamant, Newark Star-Ledger "Although baseball shares the public stage with other sports nowadays, it is still the professional sport most prominent in American historical consciousness. George B. Kirsch's book offers an intriguing look at the very early years of baseball, which were intertwined with the crucible of the Civil War... Overall, this is a solid examination of the subject and will be of interest to sports and baseball historians, in particular, but also those scholars and general readers interested in the social history of the Civil War."--John Sickels, Civil War History
Table of ContentsPREFACE ix CHAPTER ONE: The Rise of Baseball 1 CHAPTER TWO: Battlefront 28 CHAPTER THREE: Home Front 48 CHAPTER FOUR: Players and Clubs 66 CHAPTER FIVE: Championship Competition and Commercialization 93 CHAPTER SIX: The War's Legacy 113 EPILOGUE 131 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY 137 INDEX 141
