Baseball in Blue and Gray: The National Pastime during the Civil War »

George B. Kirsch is Professor of History at Manhattan College and the author of several books, including "The Creation of American Team Sports". He is the editor of two volumes of "Sports in North America: A Documentary History" and the general editor of the "Encyclopedia of Ethnicity and Sports in the United States".

"This fine social history tells a very powerful story, and one that will stir a lot of interest. It is full of lively analysis and overflowing with fascinating research. The author has done a splendid job of putting his material into an enticing format that draws the reader into an absorbing narrative. He makes a compelling case that the stories of baseball and the epic of the Civil War were inextricably bound."—Catherine Clinton, author of Fanny Kembel's Civil Wars

"This book, written in a straightforward and accessible style, is clearly the most complete book on baseball in the Civil War era yet written."—Jules Tygiel, author of Past Time: Baseball as History

"This is an impressive work on Civil War baseball that shows a sport developing and growing even as war raged—a testament to the popularity of the game. Kirsch recounts the stories of the early players who answered the call for service, does a fine and honest job of discussing the baseball-in-prison issue, and covers the early history of the game itself in a pleasing manner."—Randy Roberts, author of John Wayne America

Choice

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.

Preface     ix
The Rise of Baseball     1
Battlefront     28
Home Front     48
Players and Clubs     66
Championship Competition and Commercialization     93
The War's Legacy     113
Epilogue     131
Bibliographical Essay     137
Index     141