We received the following press release.--RL SPECS: 2001, 92 pp. & index, illus., bibl., fullname index, trade paper ISBN: 0-7884-1775-4 PRICE: $12.95 PUBLICATION DATE: July 2001 DESCRIPTION: Patricia Millen takes the reader back to the roots of baseball in this country, and follows its evolution to a national passion. While baseball's favorite myth regarding Abner Doubleday is proven to be false, America's favorite pastime is clearly a part of American history. Patricia Millen disproves the long-held, entrenched misconception that attributed baseball's rise to prominence during the 19th century to the widespread playing of the game by soldiers in camps and Civil War prisons. Long before the first shot of the Civil War was fired, the game of baseball was well on its way to becoming "America's National Game." Popular baseball histories credit the Civil War with introducing this regional, spontaneous pastime, and transforming it into a national passion with uniform rules, patriotic overtones, and scheduled events. Baseball was indeed played to a limited degree by Union and Confederate troops, but soldiers marched off to war knowing how to play the game. This is well documented in diaries, journals, letters and newspapers. Baseball's steady increase in popularity since the 1840s was more likely slowed, rather than advanced, by the four-year interruption of the Civil War. Baseball evolved from primitive, but similar, ball games that are documented well before the start of the Civil War even by slaves in the Ante-Bellum South. Baseball's popularity soared by the end of the war, elevating it to a professional level-a sport embraced by the entire nation. The evolution of baseball, and other recreation, as interwoven with the routine of a soldier's life; games away from the battlefields; ice baseball; Salisbury and other prison camps; the National Association of Baseball Players and the "Knickerboker code;" membership and game rules; Albert Spalding and the quest to prove baseball's American origin; the Doubleday myth; the 1939 celebration in Cooperstown of 100 years of baseball; and a brief history of the Civil War are included. A chronology of baseball in England and America (1621-1860), numerous illustrations, brief excerpts from diaries, journals, letters and newspaper articles, a bibliography, and a fullname index enhance this well-documented text. This volume is a must for baseball enthusiasts, Civil War history buffs-especially re-enactors, and anyone interested in American history! AUTHOR: Patricia Millen Ms. Millen has a BS from the Empire State College at the State University of New York. The author has held positions as Supervisor of Museum Teachers at the New York State Historical Association in Cooperstown, NY; Museum Cataloger at the Senate House State Historic Site in Kingston, NY; Executive Director/Curator at the Pratt Museum in Prattsville, NY; and Site Administrator at The Thomas Clarke House State Historic Site in Princeton, NJ. Awards include: the 1995 "Best of New York" for historic preservation from the Preservation League of New York; the 1993 Winthrop L. Carter Memorial Grant from the Early American Industries Association of Wilmington; and the 1992 Historic Preservation Award from Greene County Legislature(NY). Ms. Millen's previous publications include her book Bare Trees: Zadock Pratt Master Tanner and The Story of What Happened to the Catskill Mountain Forests (Black Dome Press, NY. 1995), and numerous published articles on 19th century American history. A Civil War enthusiast, she became interested in the connection between baseball and the war while living in Cooperstown, New York. Patricia now lives with her family in Titusville, New Jersey. AUDIENCE: This book will appeal to baseball enthusiasts, Civil War buffs-especially re-enactors, and anyone interested in American history. Civil War buffs, re-enactors and general history buffs will appreciate the details of the Civil War soldier's daily routine, with recreation presented as an aspect of that routine. The evolution of baseball from a spontaneous pastime to a professionally organized national sport will appeal to baseball enthusiasts. The history of baseball as it is intertwined with American history will be of interest to anyone interested in American history. PUBLISHER: Heritage Books, inc. 1540-E Pointer Ridge Place Bowie, MD 20716 www.heritagebooks.com Back to 1st Quarter 2001 List of News Items Back to Master List of News Items Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by Coalition Web, Inc. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com