PETER C. BJARKMAN - AUTHOR AND BASEBALL HISTORIAN

North America's Voice of Cuban League Baseball

"A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people." -- Thomas Mann

Autographed copies of A HISTORY OF CUBAN BASEBALL, 1864-2006 ($40) and SMOKE: THE ROMANCE AND LORE OF CUBAN BASEBALL ($30) are available directly from the author. Two titles can be purchased together for a discount price of $65 (mailing included). Send check and return address to:
Peter C. Bjarkman
PO Box 2199
West Lafayette, IN 47906-2199
USA

Library Journal has labelled A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864-2006 as "the definitive history of Cuban baseball."

McFarland & Company, 2007

The seminal and most comprehensive history of Cuban baseball, from its origins on the island in 1864 through the 45 seasons of "amateur league" competitions and national team triumphs following the 1959 communist revolution. Details on every pre- and post-revolution Cuban season and records of all international appearances by Cuban national teams. Touted by Library Journal (February 1, 2007) as "the definitive work" on Cuban baseball and featured on Havana's RADIO COCO Cuban League website.

Recipient of 2007 Robert Peterson Recognition Award from the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)

This books was McFarland's "best selling" baseball title in its first two months in print (February-March 2007)

Greenwood Press, 2005

2004 Winner of The Sporting News-SABR Baseball Research Award and 2005 Finalist for CASEY Award

The first comprehensive encyclopedia of baseball as a world sport, with detailed histories of the game in all baseball-playing countries and coverage of all major international tournaments (Olympics, World Cup, Intercontinental Cup, Pan American Games, etc.).

Total Sports Illustrated, 1999

Finalist for CASEY Award and SABR-Seymour Medal (Best Baseball Book of the Year)

An award-winning coffee table pictorial revealing the history of Cuban baseball with rare vintage photographs and informative historical text. This book has become a valued collectible on the island of Cuba, especially among an older generation of baseball aficionados.

McFarland & Company, 1994

1994 Winner of Macmillan-SABR Baseball Research Award

The first comprehensive history of baseball in Latin America and Latinos in the major leagues, with detailed accounts of baseball in each of the major Caribbean Rim ballplaying countries.

Sports Publishing LLC, 2003, 2001

Thorough history of one of baseball's most beloved franchises, including numerous photos and statistical summaries as well as a rich and detailed narrative text (with the book's second Edition updated through 2002 season).

This webpage also includes information on a number of the author's other big league team history volumes, including two encyclopedias of team histories and books on the Brooklyn Dodgers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati reds and Toronto Blue Jays.

JG Press (2004), Barnes & Noble (2000), Dorset Press (1995, 1991)

A coffeetable-style pictorial celebration of the powerful grip that America's game has on its millions of fans, and an attempt to recreate our baseball history as it lives in the collective readers' memory and imagination.

This webpage also includes information of the author's Baseball & the Game of Life: Stories for the Thinking Fan, a collection of literary short stories for the baseball enthusiast.

Masters Press (NTC Contemporary), 2000

Detailed portraits of numerous important figures from basketball's professional and collegiate history, plus debated-sparking chapters on the game's all-time greats and concise overview histories of NBA and NCAA play.

Sports Publishing LLC, 2002, 1999

Colorful encyclopedic history of the NBA's most storied franchise, loaded with rare photos and spiced with entertaining and informative narrative accounts.

This webpage also includes information on several of the authors other previously published volumes treating aspects of professional basketball history.

Masters Press, 1998, 1996

Seminal history of college basketball released on the cennential anniversary of James Naismith's invention of the one truly American game. The most detailed and informative history of the first full century of college hoops.

This webpage also includes information on several additional titles by the author devoted to college basketball history, including comprehensive histories of both the Big Ten and the Atlantic Coast Confernece.

Chelsea House Publishers, 1991

Biography for young adult readers and one of four Bjarkman titles in the Chelsea House Baseball Legends Series (which also include Duke Snider, Ernie Banks and Warren Spahn).

Two New Bjarkman Titles on Cuban Baseball Scheduled for 2009

As follow-up to the award-winning A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864-2006, McFarland & Company will publish two Bjarkman titles on Cuban baseball during the coming year. Both books are currently in preparation and should be released with the Spring 2009 catalog, just in time for the second MLB-sponsored World Baseball Classic. These two new volumes will greatly expand general knowledge about contemporary Cuban baseball (since the 1959 revolution) and amplify Bjarkman's treatments in his earlier McFarland volume.

The Cuban National Team: Baseball's True Big Red Machine (McFarland, 2009)

This ground-breaking present volume, penned by Cuban baseball's foremost historian, is the first to chronicle the complete story of baseball's most winning all-time "franchise." Bjarkman unfolds in colorful detail a remarkable half-century success run unparalleled at any level of professional or amateur baseball competition. Ever since Fidel castro seized political power on the baseball-crazy island of Cuba--and in the process outlawed all professional sports--the thrust of the small nation's "national pastime" has been focussed squarely on beating the rival American "Yankees" (i.e. the USA national amateur and professional teams) at their own game during prestigious international competitions. Baseball--in the guise of the showcase national team--has, in fact, become Cuba's greatest single propoganda weapon in an ongoing ideological struggle with "the great imperialist demon" to the north. Bjarkman clarifies the mysteries surrounding Team Cuba (how is it selected and trained annually), offers portraits of the greatest Cuban stars in international play, and relates the full saga of Cuba's relentless winning tradition across decades of pressure-packed Olympic style international tournaments.

Who's Who in Cuban Baseball, 1962-2007 (McFarland, 2009)

Bjarkman's meticulously researched companion volume represents the first-ever biographical encyclopedia (in English or Spanish) devoted to Cuban ballplayers who have performed in the post-revolution Cuban "amateur" league (1962-2007) and on Cuban national teams which have dominated international tournaments for the past 45 years (including Olympic Games, World Cup tournaments, Intercontinental Cup and Pan American Games competitions). All major stars and important lesser figures of the Cuban National Series and Selective Series (recently renamed the Super League) are included, as well as every member of all senior-level Cuban national teams of the past five decades. Player profiles are accompanied by career statistics (for all players) and numerous photos (for about one-third of the entries). Important non-playing figures like managers, coaches, league officials (including Fidel Castro) and even broadcasters are also covered. Supplemental materials include a pair of valuable chapters outlining post-1962 Cuban baseball history, thus giving a context for the player portraits.