A celebration of America's most historic highway, in words and pictures.Winding through the rugged heartland of the American West, Route 66 has resonated for generations in hardscrabble tales of hopeful seekers of new homes and new lives. It also inspired Alan and Claudia Heller, longtime residents of Duarte, a California town along Route 66, to hitch their trailer to a retirement dream and travel the road again, journeying through their home state and back to Chic...

One might not expect to find much in the middle of California's hot, dry deserts. But to the curious explorer, they're scattered with strange and extraordinary sights. On old Route 66, the desert traveler can find quirky roadside art and mementos left by motorists. In the El Paso Mountains of the Mojave, the daring adventurer can crawl through a tunnel that was hand dug by an old prospector named Burro Schmidt. In Landers, the weary wanderer can enjoy a rejuvenating "sound bath" in an acou...

Andres Duarte was a Mexican army veteran who was awarded a 6,595-acre grant south of the San Gabriel Mountains in 1841. Parceled out to settlers and farmers, the Rancho Azusa de Duarte began thriving when rail lines were built to access the citrus crops. Duarte was home to the City of Hope, a tuberculosis clinic that became a world-class cancer research and treatment center. The old U.S. Route 66 brought thousands of new Californians through the residential melting pot from points east. Re...

World War II threatened to ruin Major League Baseball. By 1945, over 500 major leaguers and 3,000 minor league prospects had been enlisted for the war effort, leaving a dearth of talent for the Big Leagues. The St. Louis Browns, like other AL and NL clubs, would be forced to fill holes in their roster with scrubs-4-F players (those dismissed from the military due to physical ailments), retired major leaguers, and youngsters not yet ready to leave the minors. But there were still some top l...

“You’ll never understand America until you’ve driven Route 66—that’s old Route 66—all the way,” a truck driver in California once said to author Rick Antonson. “It’s the most famous highway in the world.”With some determination, grit, and a good sense of direction, one can still find and drive on 90 percent of the original Route 66 today. This travelogue follows Rick and his travel companion Peter along 2,400 miles through eight states from Chicago to Los Angeles as they discover t...

When Bill James published his original Historical Baseball Abstract in 1985, he produced an immediate classic, hailed by the Chicago Tribune as the “holy book of baseball.” Now, baseball's beloved “Sultan of Stats” (The Boston Globe) is back with a fully revised and updated edition for the new millennium.Like the original, The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract is really several books in one. The Game provides a century'...

What begins as a road trip through America soon becomes a journey of discovery into themselves and into the heart of the next-door neighbour they thought they knew. For Wayne Grady, the thrill of landscape and history is tempered by memories of racism and his own family roots. Merilyn Simonds, her ear tuned for the offbeat, finds curious echoes of the ex-pat promised land she grew up with. Together they travel against the tide of American history, followin...

Changing the Game: A History of NHL Expansion celebrates an often-overlooked aspect of hockey history. The book provides comprehensive coverage of the NHL’s spread across the North American market in the 1920s along with the memorable expansions that began in 1967.Relive some great and painful moments from the debut seasons of forgotten teams such as the Montreal Maroons and California Seals along with fan favorites like the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers. Every first-year NHL roster i...

Whether navigating the backroads of Louisiana or Thuringia, exploring the snowy Quebec woods, or performing onstage at Rush concerts, Neil Peart has stories to tell. His first volume in this series, Far and Away, combined words and images to form an intimate, insightful narrative that won many readers.Now Far and Near brings together reflections from another three years of an artist’s life as he celebrates seasons, landscapes, and characters, travels roads and tra...

The story of legendary Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play major league baseball, is recounted in this title.

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Season Inside presents a thoroughly entertaining and deeply reflective examination of America’s greatest sport: baseball.What makes baseball what it is—the good as well as the bad? Who are the game’s heroes, and who its villains? What roles do managers play, and umpires and announcers and mascots and the media? What is the game’s future?To answer these questions, renowned sports journalist John...

The star running back of the NFL. The All-Star center leading his team to the championship. Matt Christopher delves into the life of both of these sports stars, exploring the paths they have traveled, the hardships they have overcome, and the highs and lows of their careers. Each book contains exciting black-and-white action photos, the player's stats, and a list of his career highlights. Real-life sports action plus Matt Christopher's easy-to-read style equals a series not be missed.