Called one "of the best historians in the United States," "one of the great political historians of all time," and "the undisputed champion of chronicling American Presidential campaigns." David Pietrusza has produced a number of critically-acclaimed works concerning 20th century American history. Critics have compared his work to that of Theodore H. White, Edmund Morris, and Doris Kearnes Goodwin.
His "1948: Harry Truman's Improbable Victory and the Year that Transformed America," a study of the dramatic 1948 presidential campaign, is a selection of the History Book Club, the Book-of-the-Month Club, and the Literary Guild.
ForeWord Magazine designated his book "1960: LBJ vs JFK vs Nixon: The Epic Campaign that Forged Three Presidencies" as among the best political biographies. Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Caro has termed "1960" "terrific."
Pietrusza's "1920: The Year of the Six Presidents" received a Kirkus starred review, was honored as a Kirkus "Best Books of 2007" title, and was named an alternate selection of the History Book Club. Historian Richard Norton Smith has listed "1920: The Year of the Six Presidents" as being among the best studies of presidential campaigns.
Pietrusza's biography of Arnold Rothstein entitled "Rothstein: The Life, Times & Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series" was a finalist for the 2003 Edgar Award. Rothstein's audio version won an AUDIOFILE Earphones Award.
Pietrusza's "Judge and Jury, his biography of baseball's first commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis," received the 1998 CASEY Award and was also a Finalist for the 1998 Seymour Medal and nominated for the NASSH Book Award.
Pietrusza collaborated with baseball legend Ted Williams on an autobiography called "Ted Williams: My Life in Pictures."
His books have been utilized as texts by such colleges as George Washington University, the City University of New York, Â the University at Buffalo, Baylor University, Bellevue College, the University of Illinois, the University of San Francisco, and Portland State College. "1920" has been part of the syllabus for the course "Congress, The Presidency & 21st Century Media" offered by C-SPAN, The Cable Center and the University of Denver. His talk on "Silent Cal's Almanack" is included in the curriculum for the C-SPAN Classroom initiative.
Pietrusza served as president (1993-97) of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), and as editor-in-chief of the publishing company Total Sports. He has been interviewed on NPR, MSNBC, C-SPAN Book TV, C-SPAN American History TV, ESPN, the Fox News Channel, the History Channel, EBRU-TV, GBTV, and the Fox Sports Channel. He has produced and written the PBS-affiliate documentary, "Local Heroes." He has served as a regular panelist for FoxNews.com Live.
Pietrusza holds both bachelor's and master's degrees in history from the University at Albany and has served on the City Council in Amsterdam, New York. He has served as public information officer for both the NYS Governor's Office of Regulatory Reform and the NYS Office of the Medicaid Inspector General.
Pietrusza is the Recipient of the 2011 Excellence in Arts & Letters Award of the Alumni Association of the University at Albany.
Learn more at www.davidpietrusza.com
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Baseball wonks rejoice! Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia is here with information about the men behind the magic numbers 755, 70, 56, 1.12, and 4,256. This weighty tome presents 2,000 capsule biographies of players, Negro Leaguers, umpires, executives, minor leaguers, owners, and broadcasters. All the big names--Aaron to Zisk--are included in this treasure trove, as are some lesser-known figures such as D.L. Adams (who has a pretty strong claim as "the father of baseball"), Bill Klem ("the Babe Ruth of umpires"), Branch Rickey (who signed Jackie Robinson to the major leagues), and Charles "Victory" Faust (the New York Giants' good luck charm and occasional pitcher, with no wins, losses, saves, walks, or strikeouts, and an ERA of 4.50, in two innings pitched). Each entry includes cumulative statistics, dates and places of birth and death, and a picture of the subject. The descriptions are warm, if not effusive, celebrating the achievements of the game's greats as well as highlighting the positive contributions of some less fondly remembered by history. Fred Merkle, for example, best known for the "Merkle Boner," is described as a fine player who performed well in six World Series. An excellent addition to any baseball fan's library, destined to be shelved alongside Total Baseball: The Official Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball. --M. Stein
From Library Journal
This compendium of 2000 baseball-related biographies, from Aaron to Zisk, comes from the editors of Total Baseball. It is no surprise that a multicontributor work this huge has some problems, as when the Smoky Burgess article declares that Burgess ?erased Red Lucas! career pinch hit mark of 114? while the Lucas bio states that ?Lucas! total of 114 lifetime pinch hits was?broken?by Jerry Lynch.? Likewise, some will wonder why Ken Griffey Sr. gets more space than Ken Griffey Jr. and why Phil Linz, best known for playing his harmonica at an inopportune time, is included when over 13,000 other major leaguers are not. But baseball thrives on such arguments. This pleasingly presented and written reference might not supplant The Ballplayers (LJ 4/1/90), with its 6000 entries, as the gold standard for baseball biographical encyclopedias, but with longer bios and an eye for the entertaining story, it belongs next to it on all comprehensive baseball reference shelves.?Jim Burns, Ottumwa P.L., IA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best biographical reference work yet,
This review is from: Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia (Hardcover)
Compiling essays on the 2,000 most influential people inbaseball history is a massive undertaking. Somehow, David Pietrusza,Matthew Silverman, Michael Gershman and the editors at Total Sports managed to pull it off -- and set a new standard for quality in the process. Previous biographical compendiums pale by comparison. Some limited their scope, concentrating on only the top players (for whom there already is ample biographical information elsewhere). Others attempted to cover more players but, for many players, provided little more than a summary of the player's statistical accomplishments. The Biographical Encyclopedia doesn't skimp on either count. It covers not only the top players, but also the most notable sportswriters, broadcasters, front office executives and statisticians. More often than not, an individual's essay includes unique biographical info that can't be found in other reference works. The worst one can say is that the book has its share of typos and that the writing is at times uneven. It goes without saying that editing a book of this length must have been a monumental task; the errors, however, rarely obscure pertinent information and are more annoying than damaging. The essays were penned by a number of different authors, so it is perhaps inevitable that some entries are better than others. The least impressive, however, are no worse than those from similar books in the past. Overall, the book marks a substantial improvement over previous efforts, and is priced quite reasonably. It would be a valuable additon to a serious fan's library, and would give a more casual fan hours of enjoyment.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is an amazing book!,
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This review is from: Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia (Hardcover)
This is one of the greatest baseball books that I have read in a long, long time. I am a huge baseball fan and this book tells you all about the games greatest stars. At first, I didn't think there would be a lot written about each player but, after seeing and reading some of this book, there is so much information. There are so many interesting facts about players that I never knew. On one hand, I wouldn't say this is a good book if you are strictly looking for statistics but, on the other hand, if you are looking to go beyond the statistics, it offers truly awesome in-depth biographies about so many player's lives and careers. I would recommend this book to any baseball fan who enjoys reading up on some of the game's greatest players!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A beautiful book for the browsing baseball buff,
This review is from: Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia (Hardcover)
I received this book as a gift and have enjoyed it very much. The number of players covered is extensive, and the biographies are generally fair, well-researched, and well-written. As a younger baseball fan who has long had an interest in the entire history of the game, I have particularly gotten a kick out of the analyses of the 19th and early 20th century ballplayers, as well as the pictures attached to each biography. I am a little disappointed, however, that the authors only use the classic, rather banal (generally) statistics in their biographical sketches, especially as the book was compiled by the editors of the bible of baseball, "Total Baseball". It's fine to read about how many wins Grover Cleveland Alexander racked up in his great career, but how good was he really in comparison to the other greats of his day, as well as in comparison to the greats of today? Stats like ERA+, PRO+, etc., would have really put each of these players in the proper historical perspective. I realize that this book is aimed at general audience, and that many baseball fans still deride advanced statistical analysis, but such analysis truly enriches evaluation of the long history of America's past-time. Don't get me wrong, the book is a lot of fun. I look forward, however, to when some accomplished sabermetricians expand the project. Reading about Babe Ruth's antics off the field accompanied by a searching analysis that truly reveals how mammoth a presence he was on the field, will be icing on the cake.
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