Baseball literature is formidable --- vast and varied, instructive, often wildly entertaining, and occasionally brilliant. From this bewildering array of baseball books, Ron Kaplan has chosen 501 of the best, making it easier for fans to find just the books to suit them (or to know what they’re missing). From biography, history, fiction and instruction to books about ballparks, business and rules, anyone who loves to read about baseball will find in this book a companionable guide.

In the road-trip tradition of Sarah Vowell and Tony Horwitz, Bob Thompson follows Davy Crockett's footsteps from the Tennessee river valley where he was born, to Washington, where he served three terms in Congress, and on to Texas and the gates of the Alamo, seeking out those who know, love and are still willing to fight over Davy's life and legacy.

When Dad Lewis is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he and his wife, Mary, must work together to make his final days as comfortable as possible. Their daughter, Lorraine, hastens back from Denver to help look after him. Her devotion softens the bitter absence of their estranged son, Frank, but this cannot be willed away and remains a palpable presence for all three of them.

Jack Tobin, “the lawyer's lawyer” --- the guy the best lawyers say they'd want to represent them in a courtroom battle --- undertakes the representation of a serial killer who he believes to be innocent. The Chief of Police is outraged, the citizens of Oakville where the murders occurred erupt, and the State Attorney is out for blood as Jack challenges the criminal justice system once again.

This is the first major biography of legendary quarterback Sammy Baugh, one of the first inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Joe Holley traces the whole arc of Baugh's life, from his small-town Texas roots to his college ball success as an All-American at TCU, his brief flirtation with professional baseball, and his stellar career with the Washington Redskins, as well as his later career coaching the New York Titans and Houston Oilers and ranching in West Texas.

Larry McMurtry has long been fascinated by George Custer and his rightful place in history. In CUSTER, he examines how the “Boy General,” who graduated last in his class at West Point, went on to earn distinction in the Civil War and rose through the ranks. In this lavishly illustrated volume, McMurtry delivers an honest assessment of Custer’s legacy and redefines our understanding of the American West.

As a police launch speeds across Miami's Biscayne Bay --- with officer Nestor Camacho on board --- Tom Wolfe introduces the Cuban mayor; the black police chief; a wanna-go-muckraking young journalist and his Yale-marinated editor; an Anglo sex-addiction psychiatrist and his Latina nurse; a billionaire porn addict; a nest of shady Russians; and many more unforgettable characters.

Given the importance of what they do, the controversies that often surround them, and the violent people they sometimes confront, it is remarkable that in the history of this country only four active federal judges have been murdered. Judge Raymond Fawcett has just become number five. Who is the Racketeer? And what does he have to do with the judge’s untimely demise?

Pulitzer Prize-winner J.R. Moehringer brings Willie Sutton blazing back to life. In his retelling, it was more than need or rage at society that drove Sutton. It was one unforgettable woman. In all of Sutton’s crimes and confinements, his first love (and first accomplice) was never far from his thoughts. And when Sutton finally walked free --- a surprise pardon on Christmas Eve, 1969 --- he immediately set out to find her.

Relying on primary sources, including more than a hundred interviews, Paul Dickson has crafted a richly detailed portrait of an American original: baseball impresario and innovator, independent spirit and unflinching advocate of racial equality, Bill Veeck.