Babe Ruth

Part of Up Close

Discover the incredible life and enduring legacy of Babe Ruth in this captivating entry in the Up Close biography series about twentieth-century America.

Babe Ruth is still regarded as perhaps the greatest baseball player ever to step on a diamond. Born into a poor family that lived above a saloon on the Baltimore waterfront, George Herman Ruth Jr. was sent to a Catholic reform school at age seven, and it was there he learned how to play baseball. He started out as a an ace southpaw pitcher, but it was with his mighty swing of the bat that he achieved his greatness, shattering every home-run record on the books in a legendary twenty-two-year career.

In this engaging and fast-paced Up Close biography, award-winning author Wilborn Hampton tells how Babe Ruth—a man of gargantuan appetites, a fiery temper, and a generous heart—lived a life as colorful off the field as on.
Wilborn Hampton has been an editor and book and theater critic for the New York Times. He is also the award-winning author of Up Close: Elvis Presley (Viking) and Kennedy Assassinated!. He lives in New York City. View titles by Wilborn Hampton

About

Discover the incredible life and enduring legacy of Babe Ruth in this captivating entry in the Up Close biography series about twentieth-century America.

Babe Ruth is still regarded as perhaps the greatest baseball player ever to step on a diamond. Born into a poor family that lived above a saloon on the Baltimore waterfront, George Herman Ruth Jr. was sent to a Catholic reform school at age seven, and it was there he learned how to play baseball. He started out as a an ace southpaw pitcher, but it was with his mighty swing of the bat that he achieved his greatness, shattering every home-run record on the books in a legendary twenty-two-year career.

In this engaging and fast-paced Up Close biography, award-winning author Wilborn Hampton tells how Babe Ruth—a man of gargantuan appetites, a fiery temper, and a generous heart—lived a life as colorful off the field as on.

Author

Wilborn Hampton has been an editor and book and theater critic for the New York Times. He is also the award-winning author of Up Close: Elvis Presley (Viking) and Kennedy Assassinated!. He lives in New York City. View titles by Wilborn Hampton

Books for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Each May, we honor the stories, histories, and cultures of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. Below is a selection of acclaimed fiction and nonfiction books by AANHPI creators to share with your students this month and throughout the year. Find our full collection of titles for Higher Education here.

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