This work focuses on the baseball movie genre in the years following World War II, beginning with the 1948 biopic The Babe Ruth Story and ending with the 1962 Mickey Mantle-Roger Maris vehicle Safe at Home!, when the consensus was that conflict should be limited in American society by emphasizing economic growth and a strong stand against Communism. This study of selected films indicates, however, that this strategy was not entirely effective; while offering a certain amount of nostalgia, these films could not provide shelter from the storm gathering in postwar America which challenged conventional ideas of race, gender and class and broke in the 1960s.

This work focuses on the baseball movie genre in the years following World War II, beginning with the 1948 biopic The Babe Ruth Story and ending with the 1962 Mickey Mantle-Roger Maris vehicle Safe at Home!, when the consensus was that conflict should be limited in American society by emphasizing economic growth and a strong stand against Communism. This study of selected films indicates, however, that this strategy was not entirely effective; while offering a certain amount of nostalgia, these films could not provide shelter from the storm gathering in postwar America which challenged conventional ideas of race, gender and class and broke in the 1960s.

Propounding his "small ball theory" of sports literature, George Plimpton proposed that "the smaller the ball, the more formidable the literature." Of course he had the relatively small baseball in mind, because its literature is formidable--vast and varied, instructive, often wildly entertaining, and occasionally brilliant. From this bewildering array of baseball books, Ron Kaplan has chosen 501 of the best, making it easier for fans to find just the books to suit them (or to know what they're missing). From biography, history, fiction, and instruction to books about ballparks, business, and rules, anyone who loves to read about baseball will find in this book a companionable guide, far more fun than a reference work has any right to be.

BACK ISSUE Under the guidance of Leslie Heaphy and an editorial board of leading historians, this peer-reviewed, annual book series offers new, authoritative research on all subjects related to black baseball, including the Negro major and minor leagues, teams, and players; pre-Negro League organization and play; barnstorming; segregation and integration; class, gender, and ethnicity; the business of black baseball; and the arts. Prior to Volume 9, Black Ball was published as Black Ball: A Negro Leagues Journal. This is a back issue of that journal.

From the outbreak of the Cold War to the rise of the United States as the last remaining superpower, the years following World War II were filled with momentous events and rapid change. Diplomatically, economically, politically, and culturally, the United States became a major influence around the globe. On the domestic front, this period witnessed some of the most turbulent and prosperous years in American history. "Postwar America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History" provides detailed coverage of all the remarkable developments within the United States during this period, as well as their dramatic impact on the rest of the world. A-Z entries address specific persons, groups, concepts, events, geographical locations, organizations, and cultural and technological phenomena. Sidebars highlight primary source materials, items of special interest, statistical data, and other information; and Cultural Landmark entries chronologically detail the music, literature, arts, and cultural history of the era. Bibliographies covering literature from the postwar era and about the era are also included, as are illustrations and specialized indexes.

BACK ISSUE Under the guidance of Leslie Heaphy and an editorial board of leading historians, this peer-reviewed, annual book series offers new, authoritative research on all subjects related to black baseball, including the Negro major and minor leagues, teams, and players; pre-Negro League organization and play; barnstorming; segregation and integration; class, gender, and ethnicity; the business of black baseball; and the arts. Prior to Volume 9, Black Ball was published as Black Ball: A Negro Leagues Journal. This is a back issue of that journal.

Drafted into the US Army in 1954, John S. Bowman was assigned to Frankfurt, Germany, where with other young Americans he produced a comic opera by the 18th-century Italian composer, Pergolesi. Its success led the Army’s Special Services to sponsor their “company’s” tour around US bases, and then to two more productions— Mozart’s Bastien und Bastienne and Bach’s Coffee Cantata--and also to US Information Agency-sponsored performances before German audiences. Working on his memoir to recapture those adventures and to convey what millions of Americans had experienced while serving in West Germany (1945-1990), Bowman came to realize that he had been participating in the so-called cultural Cold War, so he placed his personal story into the context of the astounding amount of US government sponsored cultural activities aimed at thwarting the appeal of Soviet Communism in Europe Not intended as an exposé, it is simply the most complete account of the incredible and sometimes hilarious “arsenal” of cultural weaponry deployed in the Cold War—an account that almost all Americans will find both amusing and astonishing.