Jackie Robinson

Can anyone recommend the title of a really good book about Jackie Robinson. I was listening to Don Zimmer talk about him on XM Radio, about what it was like for Mr. Robison when he started in the big leagues and I would dearly love to read a book about him. He is so to be admired for what he did for baseball!

How about his autobiography, I never had it made?

Thanks so much, fleela! I'll look into getting it.

There's a new book out now called Opening Day: The story of Jackie Robinson's first season by Jonathon Eig that is getting very good reviews ... and an older book, but still worth tracking down, is Baseball's greatest experiment by Jules Tygiel ... these may give a better overall picture of what was going on at the time than his autobiography.

My hubby recommends Baseball has done it by Jackie Robinson. He found that it helped to understand the background and the attitudes of the times.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Following my usual pattern, I'll probably get all of them!

Jackie Robinson: A Biography, by Arnold Rampersand. Excellent book.

3 more books i'd recommend are:

Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball by Scott Simon

Jackie Robinson My Own Story as told to Wendell Smith (this was written in 1948. may be hard to find, but worth the effort. I found it at my local library.

Carrying Jackie's Torch by Steve Jacobson

Sorry for a delayed response, but I'm new to Librarything.
Debby

A good Jackie Robinson book I could recommend is:
Baseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and his Legacy. The author Jules Tygiel was very thorough in his research on Jackie. I enjoyed the book even though it got a little long winded. But what I learned about Jackie Robinson was great! He was not perfect, but was the best person at the time for the tough job he had to do.
Hope this helps you.... Mike

Please don't forget Larry Doby. He was at least Robinson's equal on the field (arguably top 10-12 CF, all-time), but is often overlooked because he was "second" (first in the AL). I believe there's a biography called _Pride Against Prejudice_ (the touchstone doesn't work for it or I may have the wrong title). Doby was also the second black manager in MLB.

Also, Fleet Walker played in the American Association before the Jim Crow era in the AA and NL. There may have been other cup of coffee players as well.

Guess it's been a while since this thread was really active, but I just found and joined LibraryThing and thought I'd add my two cents here, anyway.

Carl Erskine, Robinson's teammate for many years, wrote a great book that was published a couple of years ago called What I Learned from Jackie Robinson. A beautiful first-hand account of Robinson the person and the ballplayer, plus a some very touching insight into how Erskine later applied what he'd learned about courage and forebearance in his own life.

I recently read Red Barber's book, 1947 - When All Hell Broke Loose in Baseball. The setup, as Barber describes all the "players" including owners, etc., is fascinating, but once the season actually begins, Barber reverts to basically giving play by play of the games. There is very little insight, in terms of anecdotes, into what that season was like on the field and in the clubhouse for Robinson.

If you read anything on Jackie Robinson, make sure it doesn't start and end with baseball! He was instumental in breaking the color barrier in the Armed Forces before playing, and was an inspiration and influence to many Civil Rights leaders after... definitly a man to admire!