Just in case you were unaware of the fact, Josh Chetwynd’s book on the history of baseball in Europe has recently been published.  Known to all British baseball fans as the co-host on Five’s tremendous MLB coverage, Josh’s first book focusing on the history of baseball in Britain is essential reading (as noted in my review).   If the amount of research, level of insight and quality of writing seen in British Baseball and the West Ham Club is matched in Baseball in Europe (and I’m sure it will be), then you will want to own a copy. 

Baseball treasures its past, indeed no sport honours its former players and great moments with such genuine reverence.  It’s natural that you should want to delve into the history of the game played in the States; with figures like Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Ty Cobb and many more commanding your attention.  However, what struck me more than anything while reading Josh’s first book was that there was also a vast amount to learn about the history of baseball on these shores and the neighbouring countries. 

Call it ignorance if you like, but I just wasn’t aware of quite how much there was to find out about the sport in this country.  That’s precisely because it hasn’t been written about to any great extent and Josh has filled this gap brilliantly.  Through the efforts of sites like Mister-Baseball.com, I’ve already learned about how much baseball is played throughout Europe, something few Brits realize when thinking of “that American version of rounders”.  Finding out more about how the sport was able to grow in places like the Netherlands and Italy should be fascinating.

Admittedly the book is not cheap, but it will be worth the money even if it requires a bit of saving-up for.  It’s gone on to my ‘to buy’ list and, as always, I will publish a review on here when I’ve read it. 

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