When the Boys Came Back: Baseball and 1946

Although Mr. Turner can become excessively involved in the day-to-day minutiae of the 1946 baseball season, he does a most credible and entertaining job of not only describing what the national pasttime was like a half-century ago, he fully develops three central themes essential to an understanding of the evolution of baseball since 1946. I found his treatment of African-Americans in the sport, the nascent development of a players' union, and the import of the Mexican League to be excellent. The greatest strength of his book, however, are the vignettes of players whose lives were changed, some positively, others cruelly by their war experiences. These men, especially those who did "not make it," were crafted with great poignancy. I love baseball and found myself compelled by this volume.