Books by William J. Baker

Few would deny America's devotion to sports; however, many would gloss over it as all of a piece. To do that, as William J. Baker shows us, is to miss the fascinating variety of experiences at the intersection of sports and religion - and the ramifications of such on a national citizenry defined, as Baker writes, "by the team they cheer on Saturday and the church they attend on Sunday."

Like no other nation on earth, Americans eagerly blend their religion and sports. This book traces this dynamic relationship from the Puritan condemnation of games as sinful in the seventeenth century to the near deification of athletic contests in our own day.