Football Nation: Four Hundred Years of America's Game - Hardcover

Library Of Congress; Reyburn, Susan; Angelos, Athena

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810997622 ISBN 13: 9780810997622

Publisher: Abrams, 2013

Synopsis

Football Nation: Four Hundred Years of America's Game from the Library of Congress is an unprecedented look at football from its early days in colonial America to the professional and college game in the twenty-first century. This visually stunning social and cultural history contains nearly 400 images, many rare or never before published, including memorabilia, cartoons, fine art, and game photographs. The lively text examines how the game acquired its distinct American style, survived attempts to kill it, and became the country’s dominant sport, while coping with wartime, social change, intensifying fan participation, and corporate influence. Throughout the book, illustrated features explore the history of the fight song, tailgating, and cheerleading; how Hollywood has portrayed the game and its players; the long-running role of women in football; and the impact of game-changing personalities from pioneer Walter Camp to Coach Vince Lombardi to contemporary player agents. (Indeed, no other football book includes such a diverse range of figures as Abigail Adams, Nathan Hale, Confederate general James Longstreet, Al Capone, Queen Elizabeth II, John Lennon, Hirohito, several U.S. presidents, and Peyton Manning.) Quite simply, this book reveals how the United States came to be Football Nation. “With hundreds of illustrations from the incomparable collections of the Library of Congress this is a book to treasure, not just read. The casual fan will be enchanted; the scholar will find something new on every page.” ―Dr. Michael Oriard, an English professor and dean at Oregon State University, former All American offensive lineman at Notre Dame, former NFL player, and the author of Brand NFL: Making and Selling America’s Favorite Sport “Football Nation is an awesome read and unlike any other sports history I’ve come across. It’s great to see how the game evolved in America and how it’s been a part of our history since the beginning.” ―Eli Manning, two-time Super Bowl MVP and quarterback for the New York Giants Praise for Football Nation: “Visually, this coffee-table book on football is a gem, featuring an abundance of black-and-white and color photographs . . . this attractive and intelligent retelling of the growth and history of the game will appeal equally to college and pro-football fans.” ―Library Journal “Sharp text . . . feast of archival material includes photos, drawings, reproduced magazine and newspaper extracts." ―BookPage.com “A multifaceted, pictorial perspective on America’s favorite sport.” ―Shelf Awareness

About this title

About the Author

Football Nation will be produced by the same team behind the Library of Congress' Baseball Americana. Susan Reyburn will be the primary author, having written several other books, including Baseball Americana, The Library of Congress Companion to WWII and Women Who Dare: Amelia Earhart, among others. Athena Angelos, a veteran Library of Congress photo editor and researcher, is the lead picture editor. She served in this capacity on Abrams' World War II: 365 Days.

From the Back Cover

Baseball may have been America's most popular sport, until the early 1970s when football surpassed it, but some form of football has been played on American soil since the colonial era. Today, having completely permeated American culture, football holds a year-round spectator fascination like no other team sport does. Showcasing how Americans have been football mad for centuries, even before the game took its modern form, Football Nation explores football's wide-ranging presence in American life. Drawing from the immense image collection of the Library of Congress, the book offers a comprehensive visual history of football in America, starting with its origins in colonial times, through its modernisation in the college and professional leagues, to its rise to the national phenomenon it has become today. Images include illustrations from the 1700s, the first football cards issued, game programs, early panoramic photographs, cartoons, film stills, advertising, sheet music, magazine covers, posters, maps and ephemera. Through a fast-paced narrative text amply supplemented with sidebars, feature pieces, image galleries and extended captions, the book highlights the game's unique American identity as expressed in tradition, notable figures, fan participation, mass media, tailgate cuisine and much more. Quite simply, the book reveals how the United States became the Football Nation.

Edition details

• Publisher: Abrams
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0810997622
• ISBN 13: 9780810997622
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256