front cover of From Black Sox to Three-Peats
From Black Sox to Three-Peats
A Century of Chicago's Best Sportswriting from the "Tribune," "Sun-Times," and Other Newspapers
Edited by Ron Rapoport
University of Chicago Press, 2013
Bears, Bulls, Cubs, Sox, Blackhawks—there’s no city like Chicago when it comes to sports. Generation after generation, Chicagoans pass down their almost religious allegiances to teams, stadiums, and players and their never-say-die attitude, along with the stories of the city’s best (and worst) sports moments. And every one of those moments—every come-from-behind victory or crushing defeat—has been chronicled by Chicago’s unparalleled sportswriters.

In From Black Sox to Three-Peats, veteran Chicago sports columnist Ron Rapoportassembles one hundred of the best columns and articles from the Tribune, Sun-Times, Daily News, Defender, and other papers to tell the unforgettable story of a century of Chicago sports. From Ring Lardner to Rick Telander, Westbrook Pegler to Bob Verdi, Mike Royko to Hugh Fullerton , Melissa Isaacson to Brent Musburger, and on and on, this collection reminds us that Chicago sports fans have enjoyed a wealth of talent not just on the field, but in the press box as well. Through their stories we relive the betrayal of the Black Sox, the cocksure power of the ’85 Bears, the assassin’s efficiency of Jordan’s Bulls, the Blackhawks’ stunning reclamation of the Stanley Cup, the Cubs’ century of futility—all as seen in the moment, described and interpreted on the spot by some of the most talented columnists ever to grace a sports page.

Sports are the most ephemeral of news events: once you know the outcome, the drama is gone. But every once in a while, there are those games, those teams, those players that make it into something more—and great writers can transform those fleeting moments into lasting stories that become part of the very identity of a city. From Black Sox to Three-Peats is Chicago history at its most exciting and celebratory. No sports fan should be without it.
[more]

logo for Pluto Press
Jean Paul Marat
Tribune of the French Revolution
Clifford D. Conner
Pluto Press, 2012

Jean-Paul Marat’s role in the French Revolution has long been a matter of controversy among historians. Often he has been portrayed as a violent, sociopathic demagogue. This biography challenges that interpretation and argues that without Marat’s contributions as an agitator, tactician, and strategist, the pivotal social transformation that the Revolution accomplished might well not have occurred.

Clifford D. Conner argues that what was unique about Marat - which set him apart from all other major figures of the Revolution, including Danton and Robespierre - was his total identification with the struggle of the propertyless classes for social equality.

This is an essential book for anyone interested in the history of the revolutionary period and the personalities that led it.

[more]

front cover of Tribune of the People
Tribune of the People
The Minnesota Legislature and Its Leadership
Royce Hanson
University of Minnesota Press, 1990
Tribune of the People was first published in 1990.The Minnesota legislature enjoys a national reputation for confronting difficult state problems and devising innovative ways of dealing with them. In recent years, however, as issues have become increasingly complex and controversial, public respect for the legislature has declined. In 1985 the legislature commissioned a study to analyze this troubling situation. Tribune of the People is the result of that study.Working under the auspices of the Hubert H. Humphery Institute of Public Affairs and the political science department of the University of Minnesota, the authors conducted in-depth interviews supplemented with independent research to evaluate the legislature in the quarter century since reapportionment was mandated by the U.S. Supreme Court. Moving from a historical view to a series of close-up shots, the study considered the decision-making process during the 1985-86 session: how the legislators confronted divisive issues such as the Environmental Superfund, taxes, and health policy. Finally, the study suggests a number of procedural and staffing reforms aimed at restoring public confidence in the institution. Most notable among them are proposals for reducing the size of the legislature and making it a unicameral body.
[more]


Send via email Share on Facebook Share on Twitter