Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game

A history of the rise and fall of baseball in America challenges popular beliefs about the game's evolution while revealing how it reflects popular culture, citing the roles of such contributing factors as gambling and religion.

John Thorn is the preeminent historian of baseball. He conceived and edits Base Ball: A Journal of the Early Game. Along with Pete Palmer he created and edited Total Baseball. He was an on-screen historian and the chief consultant to Ken Burns's PBS series Baseball. Thorn appears frequently on ESPN, the MLB Network, the History Channel, and other television outlets. He is a coauthor of The Hidden Game of Baseball, which helped to establish alternative statistics that are now recognized officially by Major League Baseball. He currently serves as publishing consultant to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Museum of the City of New York.