Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues & the Story of African-American Baseball [Paperback]

Lawrence D. Hogan (Author), Jules Tygiel (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 20, 2007

"Probably the most comprehensive history of black baseball available in one book…a must-read for any student of the game." —Cincinnati Enquirer

"Hogan sets the teams and leagues in the cultural and economic context of the black experience and the communities in which they played, broadening the book's appeal to anyone interested in this fascinating chapter in American history." —The Christian Science Monitor

"An outstanding tribute." —Linda Paige Shelby, daughter of Satchel Paige

"An incredible story." —Bud Selig, Commissioner of Major League Baseball

Celebrating African America's contribution to our great national pastime, this comprehensive, lively history combines vivid narrative, visual impact, and newly discovered statistics to recreate the excitement and passion of the Negro Leagues. Packed with stories, biographical essays, scores of archival photographs, and other evocative artifacts, the book is an important contribution to sports history and a fitting tribute to legendary baseball stars such as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Martin Dihigo, Cool Papa Bell, and many more, who were shadowed by racial prejudice, but now shine forth in all their sparkling brilliance.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lawrence D. Hogan is a senior professor of history at Union County College in New Jersey. He is an expert on the history of black baseball and his touring exhibit on the subject has traveled nationwide.

Jules Tygiel a history professor at San Francisco State University, is the author of Baseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy, and Past Time: Baseball as History, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was founded in 1939 and has become an American institution. Dedicated to chronicling and preserving baseball history and honoring the sport's foremost figures, it annually attracts more than 350,000 visitors to its home in Cooperstown, New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: National Geographic (March 20, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1426200331
• ISBN-13: 978-1426200335
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.2 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #580,491 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Misleading authorship by National Geographic, January 27, 2009

By 

FTP (Lala land) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues & the Story of African-American Baseball (Paperback)

Readers should be aware that this book IS NOT "by" Lawrence Hogan, who wrote only two of the seven chapters. The large number of other authors who contributed material and wrote the other chapters of this book have been needlessly slighted.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Technically sound, missing on the emotion, June 5, 2008

By 

Karen Marie (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues & the Story of African-American Baseball (Paperback)

Shades of Glory is a huge undertaking and I appreciate the effort and detail that went into this book. However, it wasn't organized in a way that was easy for me to read. There was some jumping around in time, and it just all ran together in my mind.

The writing was technically sound but emotionless. I didn't get a sense of excitement or a feel for the lives of these early baseball stars. And EVERY blasted team was named Giants. It got very confusing.

There was some good material about how the development of black baseball followed the history of black people in society as a whole, but all in all I found it less than it could have been.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shades of the Past, May 19, 2008

By 

D. Thomas (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues & the Story of African-American Baseball (Paperback)

In some ways, to look at the history of black baseball is to look at the past image of civil rights in the whole of U.S. society.

For this baseball fan, Shades of Glory shows that the history of black baseball is part heartening, seeing that, in the early days, not a vast quantity of racism came from the actual fans of the game. They simply wanted "their" clubs to field competitive teams.

At the same time, also is it disheartening and, unfortunately, not surprising to read of the cementing of the notion that "money is the root of all evil", at least as far as the African-American in 19th century baseball was concerned. And when certain white stars, who seemed to be either outright prejudiced or just plain jealous, threatened to walk away from the game rather than continue to play with their black teammates, owners and league leaders caved, dismissing the African-American players from their teams and then essentially banning them from the leagues altogether.

Author Lawrence D. Hogan has performed a valuable service to fans of the game by compiling this history of one of the most important facets of America's pastime.