When Joe Louis (1914–1981) knocked out the German boxer Max Schmeling in 1938 in two minutes and four seconds, the entire nation—black and white—celebrated the "fight of the century" as a victory of the United States against the ominous tide of Nazism. Never had an African-American received such universal praise across racial lines. Heavyweight champion for a record twelve years from 1937 to 1949, Louis opened the doors for such future black athletes as Jackie Robinson, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Muhammad Ali.Joe Louis depicts the prizefighter's life, and the times in which he lived, from his childhood in a sharecropper's cabin in Alabama and his formative years in Detroit, to his legendary career, his service in the Army, his stint as a professional wrestler after retiring from boxing in 1951, and his professional demise as an official greeter for a Las Vegas casino. Along the way, Richard Bak compassionately, yet evenhandedly, details Louis's private vices: incessant womanizing, reckless spending habits, massive debts to the IRS, and drug abuse. Filled with over one hundred photographs, including twenty-two in color, Joe Louis is the most comprehensive portrait yet written of one of the greatest African-American heroes who used his fists figuratively—and literally—to fight racism.

Joe Louis: The Great Black Hope

Biographies & Memoirs

Bak, Richard

Community & Culture

Grand Central Publishing

In 1898, as the Spanish-American War was escalating, Theodore Roosevelt assembled an improbable regiment of Ivy Leaguers, cowboys, Native Americans, African-Americans, and Western Territory land speculators. This group of men, which became known as the Rough Riders, trained for four weeks in the Texas desert and then set sail for Cuba. Over the course of the summer, Roosevelt's Rough Riders fought valiantly, and sometimes recklessly, in the Cuban foothills, incurring casualties at a far greater rate than the Spanish. Roosevelt kept a detailed diary from the time he left Washington until his triumphant return from Cuba later that year. The Rough Riders was published to instant acclaim in 1899. Robust in its style and mesmerizing in its account of battle, it is exhilarating, illuminating, and utterly essential reading for every armchair historian and at-home general. The books in the Modern Library War series have been chosen by series editor Caleb Carr according to the significance of their subject matter, their contribution to the field of military history, and their literary merit.

The Rough Riders (Modern Library War)

ROOSEVELT, THEODORE

Leaders & Notable People

Random House Publishing Group

The epic struggle between a father and son and the building of a worldwide business empire In this retelling of the story of the rise of Ford Motors, journalist Richard Bak offers a daring new perspective on the human drama that helped shape one of the world's great business empires. No dry corporate history, Henry and Edsel focuses on the epic battle of wills between the unyielding Henry Ford, his gifted son Edsel, and his "second son," the brutal and insidious Harry Bennet who rose from barroom brawler to become Henry's heir apparent. Bak dispels the common misperception of Edsel Ford as a weak and ineffectual manager, and explains that it was in fact Edsel's level-headedness and imaginative business solutions and that allowed the company to survive the many challenges to its survival in the first half of the twentieth century. Timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary celebration of Ford Motor Company, Henry and Edsel is sure to be warmly received by history buffs and business readers. Richard Bak (Detroit, MI) is a veteran journalist who has written widely on the Fords and the automobile industry.

Henry and Edsel: The Creation of the Ford Empire

Professionals & Academics

wiley

The Big Jump: Lindbergh and the Great Atlantic Air Race

The trans-Atlantic air race of 1927 and the flight that made Charles Lindbergh a heroThe race to make the first nonstop flight between the New York and Paris attracted some of the most famous and seasoned aviators of the day, yet it was the young and lesser known Charles Lindbergh who won the $25,000 Orteig Prize in 1927 for his history-making solo flight in the Spirit of St. Louis. Drawing on many previously overlooked sources, Bak offers a fresh look at the personalities that made up this epic air race – a deadly competition that culminated in one of the twentieth century's most thrilling personal achievements and turned Charles Lindbergh into the first international hero of the modern age.
<ul>
<li>Examines the extraordinary life and cultural impact of Charles Lindbergh, one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, and his legendary trans-Atlantic flight that captured the world's imagination</li>
<li>Explores the romance of flying during aviation's Golden Age of the 1920s, the enduring mystique of the aviator, and rapid technological advances that made for a paradigm shift in human perception of the world</li>
<li>Filled with colorful characters from early aviation history, including Charles Nungesser, Igor Sikorsky, René Fonck, Richard Byrd, and Paul Tarascon</li>
</ul>
History and the imagination take flight in this gripping account of high-flying adventure, in which a group of courageous men tested the both limits of technology and the power of nature in pursuit of one of mankind's boldest dreams.

Trade Paper Press

Yankees Baseball: The Golden Age: Images Of Sports

Sports & Outdoors

Baseball

Diane Pub Co.

The period from 1920 through the early post-World War II years remains the greatest in the long history of the Detroit Tigers Baseball Club. Between 1920 and 1950 the club won four pennants and two World Series, placed second seven times, and regularly fielded exciting, competitive teams.
Richard Bak spent ten years recording the life stories of nearly two dozen Tigers players from Detroit's "golden age." There was no pattern to how life had treated them since their playing days-some had stayed in the game as broadcasters or scouts; others had slipped into quiet anonymity as milkmen or machine repairmen. Bak retains the flavor of each man's speech and the integrity of his character. Players' interviews are prefaced with a short history of the parallel paths the city and professional baseball took from the end of World War I through the early 1950s.

Cobb Would Have Caught It: The Golden Age of Baseball in Detroit

Reference

Wayne State University Press

On April 28, 1896, baseball fans traveled in horse-drawn buggies to watch the Detroit Tigers play their first baseball game at the site on the corner of Michigan and Trumbull Avenues. Starting out as Bennett Park, a wooden facility with trees growing in the outfield, Tiger Stadium has played a central role in the lives of millions of Detroiters and their families for more than a century.
During the last century, millions of fans have come to Michigan and Trumbull to watch the Tigers' 7,800 home games, as well as to attend numerous other sporting, social, and civic events, including high school, collegiate, and professional football games, prep and Negro league baseball contests, political rallies, concerts, and boxing and soccer matches. 
A companion to the narrative history, almost two hundred rare photographs capture the spirit of 140 years of baseball in Detroit. A Place for Summer furnishes a sense of the relationship between the community, its teams, and the various fields, parks, and stadiums that have served as common ground for generations of Detroiters.

A Place for Summer: a Narrative History of Tiger Stadium

History

Americas

Wayne State Univ Pr

In recalling the early part of this century in baseball history, casual fans tend to glorify legends like Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth. While these remarkable players dazzled fans and grabbed headlines, black players who were every bit as good went unnoticed outside the Negro leagues. Because a "gentleman's agreement" among the white owners of organized baseball banned blacks from the major and minor leagues from the 1880s through 1946, the Negro National League provided black players the sole opportunity to display their talent. 
In Turkey Stearnes and the Detroit Stars, Richard Bak documents the extraordinary history of Detroit's first and foremost black professional baseball team. This groundbreaking analysis of Detroit's entry in the Negro National League brings to life a fascinating story of skill, pride, and perseverance.
As a charter member of Andrew "Rube" Foster's National Negro League, the Detroit Stars quickly evolved into an integral part of black culture. From the team's beginning in 1919 to its demise in 1933, the Stars offered Detroit's black community entertainment and a short respite from the hardships of daily life. Moreover, the Detroit Stars represented a rare example of successful black entrepreneurship. 
The greatest Star of them all was Norman "Turkey" Stearnes, the brilliant longball-hitting center fielder. Stearnes established virtually all of the team's individual and career records during his nine seasons with Detroit.

Turkey Stearnes and the Detroit Stars: The Negro Leagues in Detroit, 1919-1933 (Great Lakes Books)

Literature & Fiction

From the earliest burial mounds to today's simple street shrines, Boneyards: Detroit Under Ground reveals how Metro Detroiters have interred their dead and honored their memory. Author Richard Bak investigates the history of dozens of local cemeteries and also explores the cultural and business side of dying, from old-fashioned home funerals to the grave-robbing "resurrectionists" of the nineteenth century to modern funeral directors. Bak presents a mix of historic and contemporary photographs to illustrate each site or event alongside lively prose descriptions. Taken together, Bak's informative and often surprising historical snapshots span the entire metro area and three centuries of history. 
Boneyards visits the area's largest cemeteries-including Elmwood, Woodmere, Mount Olivet, Mount Elliott-and showcases some of their most intricate and unusual monuments. Bak also introduces readers to abandoned graveyards like William Ganong Cemetery in Westland, Millar Cemetery in Clinton Township, and Beth Olem Cemetery inside the GM Poletown Plant. Bak includes photos of some of the city's largest funerals, from those of automaker Henry Ford and orchestra conductor Ossip Gabrilovitch to civil rights icon Rosa Parks and rapper DeShaun "Proof" Holton. In addition, Bak tells the stories of the ordinary and the unclaimed in local cemeteries, along with the social changes like the creation of a "drive-through" funeral home in the 1970s, the "white flight" of interred family members from Detroit cemeteries, and the trend of local cemeteries adding graves that face Mecca to accommodate the growing Muslim population.
Ultimately, Bak proves that our treatment of the dead reveals much about our culture and our values. Boneyards will be intriguing reading for Detroit historians, local residents, and anyone interested in the customs of memorializing past generations.

Boneyards: Detroit under Ground (Painted Turtle Press)

Arts & Photography

Photography & Video

When Lions Were Kings: The Detroit Lions and the Fabulous Fifties (Painted Turtle Press)

During the 1950s, the Detroit Lions were one of the most glamorous and successful teams in the National Football League, winning championships in 1952, 1953, and 1957, and regularly playing before packed houses at Briggs Stadium. In When Lions Were Kings: The Detroit Lions and the Fabulous Fifties, journalist and sports historian Richard Bak blends a deeply researched and richly written narrative with many rare color images from the decade, re-creating a time when the Motor City and its gridiron heroes were riding high in the saddle. Representing a city at its postwar peak of population and influence, coach Raymond "Buddy" Parker and such players as Les Bingaman, Bob "Hunchy" Hoernschemeyer, Yale Lary, Joe Schmidt, Jack Christiansen, Jim Doran, Lou Creekmur, and Leon Hart helped sell the game to a country discovering the joys of watching televised football on Sunday afternoons and Thanksgiving Day. Quarterback Bobby Layne and halfback Doak Walker were celebrity athletes during this golden age of pro football-a decade when the game first started to replace its slower-paced cousin, baseball, as the national pastime. While the quietly modest Walker was a darling of Madison Avenue advertisers, the swaggering Layne became the first NFL player ever to grace the cover of Time magazine. Along with detailed profiles of the players, coaches, and games that defined the Lions' only dynastic era, Bak explores such varied topics as the team's languid approach to desegregation, the wild popularity of bubble gum trading cards, and the staggering physical cost players of the period have suffered in retirement. When Lions Were Kings is a lively portrait of the golden age of professional football in Detroit that will delight younger fans and inform die-hard followers of one of the NFL's oldest franchises.

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Books by Bak, Richard