Wrigley Field's Last World Series: The Wartime Chicago Cubs and the Pennant of 1945
Required reading for baseball history buffs. --Harvey Frommer, Sportsology.netCharles Billington, a history buff and mental health professional (which, some would say, are perfect qualifications to write about the Cubs), parlays his years of being a fan into a gripping, 'I was there,' account of the season. That the Cubs lost the World Series in seven games to the Detroit Tigers and have not gone back to the pinnacle since, only adds more poignancy to Billington's narrative. Billington spares no effort to recreate the details of that magical season. . . . Billington intersperses his narrative with myriad interesting sidebars, many of which offer an eloquent social commentary of the times. . . . Billington's love for history and the Cubs comes through convincingly in this interesting chronicle of an eventful year in Cubs history. --Ram Subramanian,Curled Up With a Good BookBillington makes an astute observation that '45 was the dividing line between the successful Cubs of the early 20th century and the [lousy] Cubs my father and I have been saddled with. . . . A wealth of information is provided about the effect of WWII on the team and the interesting circumstances around Spring Training of that year. . . . It makes me wish that I could have a whole bookshelf of books, each putting the magnifying glass on a particular year. Peanuts Lowrey and Bill 'Swish' Nicholson would be proud of this book. -- --David M. Beyer,A View From the BleachersCharles Billington, a history buff and mental health professional (which, some would say, are perfect qualifications to write about the Cubs), parlays his years of being a fan into a gripping, 'I was there,' account of the season. That the Cubs lost the World Series in seven games to the Detroit Tigers and have not gone back to the pinnacle since, only adds more poignancy to Billington's narrative. Billington spares no effort to recreate the details of that magical season. . . . Billington intersperses his narrative with myriad interesting sidebars, many of which offer an eloquent social commentary of the times. . . . Billington's love for history and the Cubs comes through convincingly in this interesting chronicle of an eventful year in Cubs history. --Ram Subramanian,Curled Up With a Good BookBillington makes an astute observation that '45 was the dividing line between the successful Cubs of the early 20th century and the [lousy] Cubs my father and I have been saddled with. . . . A wealth of information is provided about the effect of WWII on the team and the interesting circumstances around Spring Training of that year. . . . It makes me wish that I could have a whole bookshelf of books, each putting the magnifying glass on a particular year. Peanuts Lowrey and Bill 'Swish' Nicholson would be proud of this book. -- --David M. Beyer,A View From the BleachersCharles Billington, a history buff and mental health professional (which, some would say, are perfect qualifications to write about the Cubs), parlays his years of being a fan into a gripping, 'I was there,' account of the season. That the Cubs lost the World Series in seven games to the Detroit Tigers and have not gone back to the pinnacle since, only adds more poignancy to Billington's narrative. Billington spares no effort to recreate the details of that magical season. . . . Billington intersperses his narrative with myriad interesting sidebars, many of which offer an eloquent social commentary of the times. . . . Billington's love for history and the Cubs comes through convincingly in this interesting chronicle of an eventful year in Cubs history. --Ram Subramanian,Curled Up With a Good BookBillington makes an astute observation that '45 was the dividing line between the successful Cubs of the early 20th century and the [lousy] Cubs my father and I have been saddled with. . . . A wealth of information is provided about the effect of WWII on the team and the interesting circumstances around Spring Training of that year. . . . It makes me wish that I could have a whole bookshelf of books, each putting the magnifying glass on a particular year. Peanuts Lowrey and Bill 'Swish' Nicholson would be proud of this book. ----David M. Beyer,A View From the Bleachers