The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth » (Reprint)

LEIGH MONTVILLE, a former columnist at the Boston Globe and former senior writer at Sports Illustrated, is the author of the bestselling Ted Williams, At the Altar of Speed, Manute,and Why Not Us? He lives in Boston.

He was the Sultan of Swat. The Caliph of Clout. The Wizard of Whack. The Bambino. And simply, to his teammates, the Big Bam. From the award-winning author of the New York Times bestseller Ted Williams comes the thoroughly original, definitively ambitious, and exhilaratingly colorful biography of the largest legend ever to loom in baseball and in the history of organized sports.

[Montville is] one of America s best sportswriters. Chicago Tribune Babe Ruth was more than baseball s original superstar. For eighty-five years, he has remained the sport s reigning titan. He has been named Athlete of the Century . . . more than once. But who was this large, loud, enigmatic man? Why is so little known about his childhood, his private life, and his inner thoughts? In The Big Bam, Leigh Montville, whose recent New York Times bestselling biography of Ted Williams garnered glowing reviews and offered an exceptionally intimate look at Williams s life, brings his trademark touch to this...

The Washington Post - Steven V. Roberts

Many books have been written about the Babe, focused mainly on his athletic feats. In The Big Bam (a version of his famous nickname, "the Bambino"), Leigh Montville, formerly of the Boston Globe and Sports Illustrated, tries to dissect Ruth as a cultural icon, one who dominated American life in the '20s as much as Charles Lindbergh, Al Capone or Henry Ford. And Montville raps the ball sharply, a double off the wall if not a home run. Not only does he detail the impact of the Ruthian legend, he also shows how new developments -- from radio to public relations -- helped spread that legend to the masses.