Kirkus
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Roberts (History/Purdue Univ.) and Smith (American History/Georgia Tech Univ.) follow their previous collaboration (Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X, 2016) with a hybrid book about baseball legend Mickey Mantle (1931-1995).The hybrid consists of a spotty biography of Mantle's journey from small-town Oklahoma to the New York Yankees, a deep dive into the nature of American-style celebrity, and fascinating cameos by the men and women who influenced the impressionable Mantle as he rose to fame. The authors suggest that the task of upholding Yankee hegemony while being compared to Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio placed unbearable pressures on the 20-something Mantle. Predisposed to late-night partying and excessive alcohol consumption, Mantle often struggled to report to the baseball diamond. The serious physical injuries wracking his seemingly godlike physique also compromised his ability to reach maximum performance on a regular basis. One year in particular, 1956, was his finest, as Mantle led Major League Baseball in batting average, home runs, and runs batted inthe almost never achieved triple crown. Though the authors recount the 1956 season in detail that might bore those uninterested in baseball history, their narrative of off-field controversies should have no trouble holding the interest of all readers. Most sports journalists and other baseball insiders covered up for the nave Mantle, feeling that dishonesty by omission served their audiences' desire for hero worship. After 1956, as Mantle's stardom peaked and then declined, revelations about his less-than-sterling behaviors seeped out. The publication of Ball Four (1970), the classic memoir by pitcher Jim Bouton, ended any remaining illusion of Mantle as a golden boy. When Mantle died relatively young in 1995, few who knew the real Mantle expressed shock.A brisk account of a career and a culture that presages much of our current-day obsession with celebrity. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Library Journal
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During the 1950s, it was a baseball player from a tiny Oklahoma hamlet who transcended America's largest metropolis. In their second collaboration after Blood Brothers, coauthors Roberts (history, -Purdue Univ.) and Smith (history, Georgia Inst. of Technology) explore Mickey Mantle's (1931-95) Triple Crown season of 1956, which ensured Mantle's spot in the -Parthenon of Yankee greats. This is more than a sports book filled with accolades, as Roberts and Smith use their historical training to frame how Mantle fits within the transformation of the American cities and the rise of mass marketing during the 1950s. This cultural context adds deeper understanding to the myths surrounding the sports star. Further, the authors show the dark undertows of the myth by investigating Mantle's personal choices. But those demons do not overshadow his historic season. Also highlighted are Mantle's competitors for the Triple Crown Al Kaline and Ted Williams, along with the Yankees redemptive victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers in the World Series. VERDICT Highly recommended for fans of sports, Americana, and those seeking an informative historical read.-Jacob Sherman, John Peace Lib., Univ. of Texas at San Antonio © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly
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Historians Roberts and Smith (Blood Brothers) detail the defining season of legendary New York Yankee Mickey Mantle: 1956, during which Mantle threatened to break Babe Ruth's single-season record of 60 home runs. The authors tell the story of Mantle: his youth in rural Oklahoma, his early years of frustration and injuries after joining the Yankees in 1951, and the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers during which he displayed his defensive as well as offensive skills. From here, the authors weave Mantle into a much larger cultural tapestry, explaining how Mantle's "emergence as an icon was a product of a particular moment when the country confronted the Cold War and baseball confronted an array of problems." They argue that Mantle's athletic prowess was used by baseball professionals, writers, and fans to maintain the game's image as a wholesome sport during a perceived rise in juvenile delinquency and massive social change, as America was suburbanized and men who had returned from war saw women in the workplace as a threat against "traditional masculinity." Against this backdrop, the authors write, "Mantle's ascendance occurred at a time when Americans revered traditional masculine vigor and rugged individualism." This is a rich, detailed exploration of the Mantle legend. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.