“Mike Bohn has captured the Golden Age of sports in a way that makes me wish I'd lived back then—with all those heroes, both on the field and up in the press box. Every fan of sports should read this book to appreciate where we've come from, and realize how there used to be a better world out there, except for advances in air-conditioning.”
— Dan Jenkins, sportswriter; author of Jenkins at the Majors
“Want to know why the 1920s is the most seminal decade in the history of American sport? Read Michael Bohn’s HEROES AND BALLYHOO, a page-turning and stirring plunge into a time when America’s most beloved figures—those wielding big wooden bats and wearing leather football helmets—held the country spellbound. A terrific piece of historical journalism.”
— Lars Anderson, Sports Illustrated; author of The First Star: Red Grange and the Barnstorming Tour That Launched the NFL
“There were giants in those days: Jack Dempsey, Babe Ruth, Red Grange, Bobby Jones, Knute Rockne, Bill Tilden, and Gertrude Ederle. Michael Bohn is the first to bring them all together. Heroes and Ballyhoo is gravid with excitement; you can almost hear the crowd roar when you open the book.”
— Allen Barra, Wall Street Journal
“In the early years of the Roaring Twenties American women not only won the right to vote but they also earned headlines along side their male counterparts during the Golden age of American sports. Michael Bohn shares an engaging story of how two sports heroines, tennis player Helen Wills and swimmer Gertrude Ederle helped embolden women to seek self fulfillment by challenging the status quo.”
— Donna de Varona, Olympic gold medalist and Emmy Award-winning sportscaster
“Hype, hoopla and histrionics characterized American sports in the 1920s as well as all kinds of talented and unusual characters. Michael Bohn’s HEROES AND BALLYHOO is a treatise, a tribute and a tip of the cap to that special time. Carefully researched and written, this is a book that belongs on your sports bookshelf.”
— Harvey Frommer, author of Remembering Yankee Stadium
“Michael Bohn provides a rare opportunity to experience the American sporting scene in the Roaring Twenties. A constant stream of legendary characters marches across these pages. You'll meet them all: The Babe, The Four Horsemen, The Manassa Mauler, The Wheaton Iceman, Bill Tilden, Gertrude Ederle, and Grantland Rice, the sportswriter whose purple prose made them all come alive.”
— Peter Golenbock, author of George: The Poor Little Rich Boy Who Built the Yankee Empire
“If you want to understand the sports hype of our time, Peyton, King James, A-Rod and beyond, you better read Michael Bohn's engrossing stories in this clear-eyed celebration of where it all began.”
— Robert Lipsyte, author of An Accidental Sportswriter: Lessons from a Lifetime in the Locker Room