Synopses & Reviews
Strange as it sounds, during the 1870s and 1880s, Americas most popular spectator sport wasnt baseball, boxing, or horseracing—it was competitive walking. Inside sold-out arenas, competitors walked around dirt tracks almost nonstop for six straight days (never on Sunday), risking their health and sanity to see who could walk the farthest—500 miles, then 520 miles, and 565 miles! These walking matches were as talked about as the weather, the details reported from coast to coast.
This long-forgotten sport, known as pedestrianism, spawned Americas first celebrity athletes and opened doors for immigrants, African Americans, and women. The top pedestrians earned a fortune in prize money and endorsement deals. But along with the excitement came the inevitable scandals, charges of doping—coca leaves!—and insider gambling. It even spawned a riot in 1879 when too many fans showed up at New Yorks Gilmores Garden, later renamed Madison Square Garden, and were denied entry to a widely publicized showdown.
Pedestrianism: When Watching People Walk Was Americas Favorite Spectator Sport chronicles competitive walkings peculiar appeal and popularity, its rapid demise, and its enduring influence, and how pedestrianism marked the beginning of modern spectator sports in the United States.
Review
"An entertaining biography, step by step, of a diversion in the earliest days of todays sports industry." —Kirkus Reviews
Review
“Mathew Algeo strides fearlessly into a rich and little-known area of sporting history. Even the most knowledgeable fans of pedestrianism will find much to amaze them here.” —Geoff Nicholson, author of The Lost Art of Walking: The History, Science, and Literature of Pedestrianism
Review
“Abraham Lincoln loved animals. So did his boys. Whatever else historians disagree over, they accept this as true. Yet none have focused on the story of the Lincoln family pets and their meaning to the sixteenth president. Thankfully, Matthew Algeo has now done so, producing a charming and thoughtful study that begins with Fido, the Lincoln family dog, but covers much, much more.” —Matthew Pinsker, author, Lincoln’s Sanctuary: Abraham Lincoln and the Soldiers’ Home
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“This is a fun and thoughtful book, with a message: could there be a connection between Lincoln’s personal and political lives?” —James M. Cornelius, PhD, Curator, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
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“Abe & Fido is entertaining, but it's more than a novelty.” —Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
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“Algeo does a commendable job telling this story, and it's well worth the read.” —Animal Advocates of Alabama
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"[A] breezy, enjoyable book." —Washington Post
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"One of the best non-fiction books of 2011." —PopMatters.com
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"Algeo writes entertainingly, but the themes he develops are serious ones, well worth the attention of serious readers." —History Book Club
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"One of the Best Books of the Year." —Washington Post
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"An engaging account . . . Well-researched." Wall Street Journal
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Now, this is whats called a road trip.” --In Transit, New York Times travel blog
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"Matthew Algeo recalls [my grandparents'] memorable trip beautifully and with the sense of humor it deserves." Clifton Truman Daniel, grandson of Harry S. Truman
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"Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure resonates Aaron Copeland's 'Fanfare for the Common Man'brassy, bright, energetic, brief and declaratively American." Washington Times
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"Enlivened by Algeo"s endeavors to see the places where Truman stopped, this is an engaging historical sidebar." Booklist Online
Synopsis
Strange as it sounds, during the 1870s and 1880s, America's most popular spectator sport wasn't baseball, boxing, or horseracing--it was competitive walking. Inside sold-out arenas, competitors walked around dirt tracks almost nonstop for six straight days (never on Sunday), risking their health and sanity to see who could walk the farthest--500 miles, then 520 miles, and 565 miles These walking matches were as talked about as the weather, the details reported from coast to coast.
This long-forgotten sport, known as pedestrianism, spawned America's first celebrity athletes and opened doors for immigrants, African Americans, and women. The top pedestrians earned a fortune in prize money and endorsement deals. But along with the excitement came the inevitable scandals, charges of doping--coca leaves --and insider gambling. It even spawned a riot in 1879 when too many fans showed up at New York's Gilmore's Garden, later renamed Madison Square Garden, and were denied entry to a widely publicized showdown.
Pedestrianism: When Watching People Walk Was America's Favorite Spectator Sport chronicles competitive walking's peculiar appeal and popularity, its rapid demise, and its enduring influence, and how pedestrianism marked the beginning of modern spectator sports in the United States.
Synopsis
In early 1861, as he prepared to leave his home in Springfield, Illinois, to move into the White House, Abraham Lincoln faced many momentous tasks, but none he dreaded more than telling his two youngest sons, Willie and Tad, that the family’s beloved pet dog, Fido, would not be accompanying them to Washington. Lincoln was afraid the skittish dog couldn’t endure the long rail journey, so he decided to leave the mutt behind with friends in Springfield.
Fido had been by Lincoln’s side as the prairie lawyer rose from obscurity to the presidency, sometimes carrying bundles of letters from the post office in his mouth as he and his master walked the streets of the state capital. Abe & Fido tells the story of two friends, an unlikely tandem who each became famous and died prematurely.
The book also explores the everyday life of Springfield in the years leading up to the Civil War, as well as Lincoln’s sometimes radical views on animal welfare and how they shaped his life and his presidency. It’s the story of a master and his dog, living through historic, tumultuous times.
Synopsis
An extraordinary yet almost unknown chapter in American history is revealed in this extensively researched exposé. On July 1, 1893, President Grover Cleveland boarded a friends yacht and was not heard from for five days. During that time, a team of doctors removed a cancerous tumor from the presidents palate along with much of his upper jaw. When an enterprising reporter named E. J. Edwards exposed the secret operation, Cleveland denied it and Edwards was consequently dismissed as a disgrace to journalism. Twenty-four years later, one of the presidents doctors finally revealed the incredible truth, but many Americans simply would not believe it. After all, Grover Clevelands political career was built upon honesty—his most memorable quote was “Tell the truth”—so it was nearly impossible to believe he was involved in such a brazen cover-up. This is the first full account of the disappearance of Grover Cleveland during that summer more than a century ago.
Synopsis
On June 19, 1953, Harry Truman got up early, packed the trunk of his Chrysler New Yorker, and did something no other former president has done before or since: he hit the road. No Secret Service protection. No traveling press. Just Harry and his childhood sweetheart Bess, off to visit old friends, take in a Broadway play, celebrate their wedding anniversary in the Big Apple, and blow a bit of the money hed just received to write his memoirs. Hopefully incognito.
In this lively history, author Matthew Algeo meticulously details how Trumans plan to blend in went wonderfully awry. Fellow diners, bellhops, cabbies, squealing teenagers at a Future Homemakers of America convention, and one very by-the-book Pennsylvania state trooper all unknowingly conspired to blow his cover. Algeo revisits the Trumans route, staying at the same hotels and eating at the same diners, and takes readers on brief detours into topics such as the postwar American auto industry, McCarthyism, the nations highway system, and the decline of Main Street America. By the end of the 2,500-mile journey, you will have a new and heartfelt appreciation for Americas last citizen-president.
About the Author
Matthew Algeo is an award-winning journalist who has reported from three continents for public radios All Things Considered, Marketplace, and Morning Edition. He is the author of The President Is a Sick Man and Last Team Standing.