Randy Roberts
Please join me in congratulating Randy Roberts, 150th Anniversary Distinguished Professor of History, on his new book, War Fever: Boston, Baseball, and America in the Shadow of the Great War (Basic Books, 2020). Co-written with Georgia Tech’s Julius C. “Bud” Shaw Professor of Sports History Johnny Smith (Ph.D. 2011), the book explains how the stories of Harvard Law student Charles Whittlesey, symphony conductor Karl Muck, and baseball legend Babe Ruth intertwined in World War I-era Boston.
In his review of the book, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Oshinsky wrote, “Roberts and Smith have a brilliant knack for finding unexplored subjects and bringing them fully to life. This haunting, elegantly written book is the story of Boston – but really America itself – set against the background of a raging global war, momentous lifestyle changes, and an influenza epidemic that would kill more people in a shorter time than any event in human history. Told through the eyes of three vibrant characters, War Fever is a sober reminder of the forces that came together in 1918 to confront the Great War and shape the nation’s future.”
Congratulations, Professor Roberts!
David A. Reingold
Justin S. Morrill Dean
College of Liberal Arts