A bestseller in its original edition (Lexikos Books) now restored, after more than a decade OP, with a new afterword by the author.

    These were the decades when baseball expanded across the country and truly became the national pastime. The era opened, though, with the domination of the New York teams: the Yankees, Dodgers, or Giants were in every World Series of the 1950s -- but by the end of the decade the two National League teams had moved to California. Representing those great teams in this volume are Whitey Ford, Ralph Branca, Carl Erskine, Duke Snider, and Bill Rigney. They recall the great 1951 Dodgers-Giants playoff that ended with Bobby Thomson's famous home run (served up by Branca). They remember the mighty Yankees, defeated at last in 1955 by the Dodgers, only to recover the World Series crown from their Brooklyn rivals a year later. They talk about their most feared opponents and most valued teammates, from Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle to Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella to Willie Mays. But there were great teams and great ballplayers elsewhere in the 1950s and 1960s. Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts recalls the famous Whiz Kids Phillies of 1950 and his epic duels with Don Newcombe and other leading National League pitchers. Lew Burdette remembers his years as one-half of the dominating pitching duo (with Warren Spahn) that propelled the Braves to the World Series in 1957 and 1958. Harmon Killebrew recalls belting home runs for the hapless Washington Senators, then discovering a new world of enthusiastic fans in Minnesota when the Senators joined the westward migration and became the Twins. Brooks Robinson, on the other hand, played his entire twenty-three-year career for the Baltimore Orioles, never moving anywhere except all around third base, where he earned a record sixteen consecutive Gold Gloves. When Frank Robinson left Cincinnati to join Brooks on the Orioles in 1966, that team became a powerhouse. Frank Robinson won the MVP award that year, the first player to do so in each league. He remembers taking the momentous step to become the first African-American manager in the big leagues, the final step that Jackie Robinson had wanted to take. Like Frank Robinson, Billy Williams was one of the first African-American stars not to come out of the old Negro Leagues. He spent his greatest years with the Chicago Cubs, playing alongside Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks, and later Ron Santo, but here he recalls how he nearly gave up on the game in the minor leagues. We Would Have Played for Nothing is full of fascinating stories about how these great ballplayers broke into baseball, about the inevitable frustrations of trying to negotiate a contract with owners who always had the upper hand, and about great games and great stars-teammates and opponents-whose influence shaped these ballplayers' lives forever. Illustrated throughout, this book is a wonderful reminiscence of two great decades in the history of baseball.

    Adeline Archer is twenty-five and she is DESPERATE!She needs to run from the luxury she's known in New York.Their affluent lifestyle is at an abrupt end! Now her father has taken his own life, leaving either Adeline or her younger sisters commanded to marry to Lex Baxtor- the man they hated most!Well . . . so she needs an ESCAPE PLAN - to become a Mail order Bride with a strict no-love policy. Perfect!Gold Rush . . . and James Blair, are her ONLY option.What will happen in a marriage when two hearts committed to a strict-no-love policy?Will they go through with the annulment they think they want?AMELIA - The Idealistic Bride for Her Insecure Rancher ~ Book 2Amelia Archer is almost twenty - a romantic artist and DREAMER by nature...As a matter of fact, she's imagined her wedding day for as long as she can remember.Along with a wonderful wedding, her thoughts had often to be with her one true love. The touching and poetic letters from Jack Blair have had Amelia's heart in a spin and she knows he's the perfect husband for her.Everything had worked out perfectly well......well... until reality struck...What will happen when Amelia comes crashing down to earth on a ranch which is more rustic than she expected and nowhere near as romantic as she imagined?Dashing Jack Blair loves the ranch but hates ranching. He's insecure about his future and maybe a bride can help give him hope for the future.Will he choose his own bride for love and not for her ability to further the family empire?AVERILL- The Careful Bride for Her Impulsive Sheriff ~ Book 3Averill Archer is eighteen, an intellect, careful and YEARNING for a NEW FUTURE to fulfill all her ambitions . . . and at the same time to fulfill her sister's escape plan.If she must marry, she will do so with a man to match her bright and active mind. When well-written letters arrive from Jacob Blair,. she's EXCITED and absolutely POSITIVE he's the one for her.But there's a problem . . . . .Averill Archer hates liars and drinkers!What will happen if her future husband - Jacob Blair is both a liar and a drinker?Jacob can't read or write and doesn't believe he can ever learn.Being impulsive and hot-headed, his main answer to problems is a bottle of booze.Will Averill's discovery about Jacob's lies and deceit over the letters that captured her heart and his pig-headedness be the end of budding young love?The Big Feisty Bride tamed by Her Scarred Banker ~ BONUS STORY: Book 1 in

    After spending several months in New York City, the family signed up for a journey to the Republic of Texas where they could homestead and eventually acquire 137 free acres for their efforts. Soon growing discontented with, not only the land, but also the management of the colony in which they had settled, the Horns decided to return to England. But, it was not to be. Attacked and captured by a party of Comanche Indians, Sarah Ann was faced with challenges and realities the like of which she never could have dreamed. Over a period of fifteen months of Comanche captivity, she and her captors rode endlessly across the Texas plains until finally she was purchased out of bondage and befriended by traders in New Mexico. This is the true story of a remarkable woman who endured an unimaginable amount of suffering and pain in her short lifetime.

    From Simon & Schuster comes an unforgettable autobiography from Mark Arax: In My Father's Name.Mark Arax recounts the incredible events that transpired twenty years after his father's unsolved murder, during which he returned to Fresno under an assumed name and uncovered the startling disclosure that preceded his father's tragic death.

    Or so the story runs-it was in the early days of settlement and the town had never heard of the Sobbin' Women then. But it opened its eyes one day, and there were the Pontipees. They were there but they didn't stay long-just time enough to buy meal and get a new shoe for the lead horse. You couldn't call them unsociable, exactly-they seemed to be sociable enough among themselves. But you could tell, somehow, from the look of them, that they weren't going to settle on ground other people had cleared. They were all high-colored and dark-haired-handsome with a wilderness handsomeness-and when you got them all together, they looked more like a tribe or a nation than an ordinary family. I don't know how they gave folks that feeling, but they did. Yes, even the baby, when the town women tried to handle him. He was a fine, healthy baby, but they said it was like trying to pet a young raccoon. Well, that was all there was to it, at the start. They paid for what they bought in good money and drove on up into Sobbin' Women Valley-only it wasn't called Sobbin' Women Valley then. And pretty soon, there was smoke from a chimney there that hadn't been there before. But you know what town gossip is when it gets started. The Pontipees were willing enough to let other folks alone-in fact, that was what they wanted. But, because it was what they wanted, the town couldn't see why they wanted it. Towns get that way, sometimes.

    Hot alpha protectors willing do anything to protect the woman they love.Men that live in the shadows they fight for the innocent, for the lost but when they meet the women who bring them to their knees, they realise that fighting isn't always enough--sometimes you have to trust too. As these sexy heroes fall one by one, they realise dying to protect the woman you love isn't always enough sometimes you have to rise from the shadows.

     This is the history of that division and the men and tanks that fought in it. Vic Hillery and Major Emerson Hurley, two veterans of the division, have provided a thorough account of this fascinating division in World War Two, from its inception in 1941 through to the end of the war. Hillery and Hurley fully explain how the Fifth Division, under the tactically brilliant leadership of Jack E. Heard, Sereno E. Brett, Lunsford E. Oliver, were able to revolutionise armored warfare. With detailed analysis the authors reconstruct the battles of the division and explain how they were able to carve a path through Normandy, Northern France, the Ardennes, Alsace, the Rhineland and Central Europe. Paths of Armor is essential reading for anyone interested in the Western Front of World War Two and the development of tank warfare that occurred through that war.

    At the head of this effort was Junípero Serra, an ambitious Franciscan who hoped to convert California Indians to Catholicism and turn them into European-style farmers. For his efforts, he has been beatified by the Catholic Church and widely celebrated as the man who laid the foundation for modern California. But his legacy is divisive. The missions Serra founded would devastate California's Native American population, and much more than his counterparts in colonial America, he remains a contentious and contested figure to this day.Steven W. Hackel's groundbreaking biography, Junípero Serra: California's Founding Father, is the first to remove Serra from the realm of polemic and place him within the currents of history. Born into a poor family on the Spanish island of Mallorca, Serra joined the Franciscan order and rose to prominence as a priest and professor through his feats of devotion and powers of intellect. But he could imagine no greater service to God than converting Indians, and in 1749 he set off for the new world. In Mexico, Serra first worked as a missionary to Indians and as an uncompromising agent of the Inquisition. He then became an itinerant preacher, gaining a reputation as a mesmerizing orator who could inspire, enthrall, and terrify his audiences at will. With a potent blend of Franciscan piety and worldly cunning, he outmaneuvered Spanish royal officials, rival religious orders, and avaricious settlers to establish himself as a peerless frontier administrator. In the culminating years of his life, he extended Spanish dominion north, founding and promoting missions in present-day San Diego, Los Angeles, Monterey, and San Francisco. But even Serra could not overcome the forces massing against him. California's military leaders rarely shared his zeal, Indians often opposed his efforts, and ultimately the missions proved to be cauldrons of disease and discontent. Serra, in his hope to save souls, unwittingly helped bring about the massive decline of California's indigenous population.On the three-hundredth anniversary of Junípero Serra's birth, Hackel's complex, authoritative biography tells the full story of a man whose life and legacies continue to be both celebrated and denounced. Based on exhaustive research and a vivid narrative, this is an essential portrait of America's least understood founder.

    BART" himself When BART opened in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1972, it became a catalyst for a renaissance in modern rail transit, both nationally and internationally. The concept as sold to Bay Area voters was gargantuan: by adopting aerospace technologies such as microchips for ground transportation, the new computer-operated rail system would bridge counties and curb urban sprawl amid a booming automobile culture. But it all came within a gnat's eyelash of not happening. The question raised by pundits and taxpayers alike was: would this space-age plan actually work, or be the biggest boondoggle in the country's history? In the first-ever history book about BART, longtime agency spokesman Michael C. Healy gives an insider's account of the rapid transit system's inception, hard-won approval, construction, and operations, "warts and all." Written with a master storyteller's homey wit and sharp attention to detail, Healy recreates the politically fraught venture to bring a new kind of public transit to the West Coast. What emerges is a sense of the individuals who made (and make) BART happen. From tales of staying up until 3:00 a.m. with Bill Stokes and Jack Everson to hear the election results for the rapid transit vote or weathering scandals, strikes, and growing pains, this look behind the scenes of an iconic, seemingly monolithic structure reveals people at their most human-and determined to change the status quo.

    For the next 300 years, Spaniards ranged through the continent building forts, missions and farms, ranches and towns to reconstruct the Iberian world.

    First identified as valuable in the 1930s, when the whole notion of card collecting was still young, the T206 Wagner has remained the big score for collectors who have scoured card shows, flea markets, estate sales, and auctions for the portrait of baseball's greatest shortstop.Only a few dozen T206 Wagners are known to still exist. Most, with their creases, stains, and dog-eared corners, look worn and tattered, like they've been around for almost a century. But one—The Card—appears to have defied the travails of time. Thanks to its sharp corners and its crisp portrait of Honus Wagner, The Card has become the most famous and desired baseball card in the world.Over the decades, as The Card has changed hands, its value has skyrocketed. It was initially sold for $25,000 by a small card shop in a nondescript strip mall. Years later, hockey great Wayne Gretzky bought it at the venerable Sotheby's auction house for $451,000. Then, more recently, it sold for $1.27 million on eBay. Today worth over $2 million, it has transformed a sleepy hobby into a billion-dollar industry that is at times as lawless as the Wild West. The Card has made men wealthy, certainly, but it has also poisoned lifelong friendships and is fraught with controversy—from its uncertain origins and the persistent questions about its provenance to the possibility that it is not exactly as it seems.Now for the first time, award-winning investigative reporters Michael O'Keeffe and Teri Thompson follow the trail of The Card from a Florida flea market to the hands of the world's most prominent collectors. They delve into a world of counterfeiters and con men and look at the people who profit from what used to be a kids' pastime, as they bring to light ongoing investigations into sports collectibles. O'Keeffe and Thompson also examine the life of the great Honus Wagner, a ballplayer whose accomplishments have been eclipsed by his trading card, and the strange and fascinating subculture of sports memorabilia and its astonishing decline.Intriguing and eye-opening, The Card is a ground-breaking look at a uniquely American hobby.

    Woven in is a back story detailing the origins of the John Muir Trail: a 211-mile trail spanning the rooftop of the Sierra Nevada from Yosemite Valley to Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the continental United States.The tale begins with Gil, who In the wake of his father’s death and recently fired from his job, agrees to accompany his father’s old hiking partner Syd on a monthlong trek on the John Muir Trail. There’s just one problem: Gil hates camping and is woefully unprepared for the rigors of the journey. Moreover, he soon learns Syd may not survive the hike...Former Sierra Club leader Ethan Gallogly takes you on a wild tour across the Range of Light, describing its glorious scenery in vivid detail while introducing you to a diverse cast of characters drawn from his own personal experiences as a hiker.It’s a beautifully crafted book, with 43 maps and sketches by acclaimed mountain illustrator Jeremy Ashcroft, showing the topography of each section in clear three-dimensional renderings and peppered with drawings of the trail’s iconic scenery, like the Muir Hut, the Rock Monster, and Evolution Lake.Whether you’re planning your own John Muir Trail trek, have walked the trail before, or are simply an armchair explorer looking for a compelling story—this book is for you.Praise for The Trail“The author shines in his descriptions of the natural world... A subtle and vivid tale of finding peace in the great outdoors.” —Kirkus Reviews “It’s a fantastic book. Everything rings true. I already have several people I plan to give copies to.” —Elizabeth Wenk, author of the best-selling guidebook John Muir Trail: The Essential Guide to Hiking America’s Most Famous Trail“A Walk in the Woods meets Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.” —Peter Snow Cao, Bike China Adventures“Ethan Gallogly has created a wonderful blend of High Sierra history, eloquent descriptions of the range’s glorious scenery, and fascinating vignettes of the diverse characters who roam the John Muir Trail.” —Steve Roper, Sierra historian, mountaineer, and author of Sierra High Route: Traversing Timberline Country“The Trail leaves the reader with a poignant picture of how nature can heal and reconstruct us.” —Alyssa Matesic, ASM EditorialAbout the AuthorEthan Gallogly, PhD (“Po”) has been a leader in the Sierra Club, the Cal Hiking and Outdoors Society (CHAOS) at UC Berkeley, and the Outdoors Club of Southern California. His boots have covered countless miles, including the John Muir Trail, the High Sierra Trail, the Oregon Section of the Pacific Crest Trail, the Tahoe–Yosemite Trail, and the Theodore Solomons Trail. He was a reviewer for the Wilderness Press guides: Sierra North, Sierra South, and Yosemite National Park and has read nearly every book on the history of the Sierra Nevada.Fans of Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods, Ben Montgomery’s Grandma Gatewood’s Walk, and Eric Blehm’s The Last Season will love this new outdoors novel selected by Amazon as a Hot New Release.

    Tim Hudson was determined to demonstrate his recovery from a recurring injury. Barry Zito had to show the world that after a ho-hum 2003, his 2002 Cy Young Award was not a fluke. Mark Mulder missed the 203 playoffs entirely with a stress fracture, but the way he saw it, he simply needed to be himself-the natural-born pitcher.Given unprecedented access to the Big Three , Mychael Urban recreates their tumultuous season through their eyes. he explores the nuts and bolts of major league pitching, examining each player's unique approach to this craft while revealing how three very different personalities cope with the demands, rewards, and challenges of sports stardom.Now with a new afterword on the 2005 seasonUrban traces the fortunes of the Big Three after Hudson was sent to Atlanta and Mulder to St. Louis, trades which held the dramatic promise of them being reunited again-as opponents-in the playoffs."Written with great color, style, humor, and grace, Aces takes readers on a captivating ride." - Mike Silver, Sports Illustrated"Mychael Urban's book is a fabulous read... This is hardly just a baseball book. It's about life, and he tremendous burden each pitcher carried while trying to lead the Oakland A's to the playoffs. I absolutely loved it." - Bob Nightengale, Senor Writer/Columnist, USA Today Sports Weekly"From the southern fried heat of Tim Hudson to Mark Mulder's cool aloofness to Barry Zito's cerebral wanderings, Urban captures the engine of Oakland's Little Engine That Could of a team with grace and aplomb." - Scott Miller, National Baseball Columnist, CBS.SportsLine.com

    A neatly typed letter explained that the box contained 1,000 pounds of dynamite. It was the largest improvised explosive device in American history—and its creator promised to explain how to remove it safely if the casino delivered $3 million by helicopter to a remote landing site in the mountains. “Do not try to move, disarm, or enter the bomb,” the letter warned. “It will explode.” The bomb maker was one Janos “Big John” Birges, a Hungarian political refugee who had worked his way up from nothing to become a successful entrepreneur in Fresno, California—only to see his life unraveled in middle age by divorce, cancer, and gambling debts. By 1980, he owed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Harvey’s. And he had roped his two teenage sons—who were as eager to please their father as they were terrified of him—into a plot to get the money back. But the bomb he planted in the casino that August wasn’t just an extortion scheme. It was a brilliant feat of engineering—an intricate and deadly puzzle that Birges hoped would prove once and for all just how badly the world had underestimated him. In A Thousand Pounds of Dynamite, Adam Higginbotham draws from interviews with federal agents and Birges’s co-conspirators—as well as never-before-released FBI records—to tell the true story of the race to stop one of history’s most bizarre extortion plots. By turns action-packed and darkly hilarious, A Thousand Pounds of Dynamite is an engrossing tale of genius at its most deranged. Praise for A Thousand Pounds of Dynamite: “A simple plan and a hell of a lot of explosives pay off in a galloping true crime tale that speaks in the language of ’70s SoCal dirt-bags, dreamers and G-men. Stranger still, beneath the pyrotechnics lies a poignant story of family. Higginbotham’s skills as a journalist and storyteller left me banging the plate for more.” —Charles Graeber, author of The Good Nurse “Of all the spectacular crimes that plagued America at the tail end of the Me Decade, none was more bizarre or more ambitious than the plot to bomb Harvey’s Wagon Wheel Casino. Adam Higginbotham brings this bonkers caper to vivid life in A Thousand Pounds of Dynamite, a tale that explores the very fine line between criminal genius and criminal insanity. You’ll devour this rollicking yarn in one sitting, then spend the next few months regaling your friends with all the astonishing details.” —Brendan I. Koerner, author of The Skies Belong to Us