Terror in the City of Champions: Murder, Baseball, and the Secret Society That Shocked Depression-Era Detroit

Praise for Tom Stanton's previous books "Stanton has an eye for the novelistic detail that captures the drama of Aaron's drive to the record." -The New York Times Book Review "Engaging...The real story here...is of the trials this wondrous player endured on the way to his big moment." -Sports Illustrated "Powerful...Baseball books rarely reach the heights of Stanton's...Excellent." -Chicago Tribune "As splendid as a sunny spring day at the ballpark. ... Stanton's writing is seamless." -Publishers Weekly, starred review "What's better than talking baseball?...Stanton's got it all here, the real stuff." -Elmore Leonard "A beautiful gem of a book: tender, perceptive, compassionate, funny, and wise." -Lawrence S. Ritter, author of The Glory of Their Times "Those who don't understand say baseball is only a game. Those who run and play it sometimes act as if it's only a business. By now, maybe they're right. But for a long time, something else was true. That something else is what Tom Stanton is getting at here." -Bob Costas
"With the racist Black Legion spreading evil and the rambunctious Detroit Tigers bringing joy, Detroit's seemingly eternal forces of darkness and light coexist in this captivating slice of American history." --David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story and When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi
"Once in a blue moon, a city bears witness to the best and the worst of times. Such was Detroit's fate more than a generation ago as the Tigers, Lions and Red Wings reached new sports heights while the Black Legion too often ruled the night. It's a great tale and Tom Stanton has done a marvelous job telling it." --Tim Wendel, author of Summer of '68
"Tom Stanton's absorbingly detailed work entwines the best and the worst of Detroit during the Depression. Readers will find themselves cheering the sports heroes and rooting against the Black Legion, a fascinatingly bizarre bunch whose sudden leap into the headlines inspired a wave of national hysteria. Stanton has deftly recreated one of the most farfetched episodes of the Motor City's never-dull past." --Richard Bak, author of Detroitland and Joe Louis: The Great Black Hope
Today, Detroit is a shadow of its former self. This fascinating book reveals what an astonishing place it formerly was. Eight decades ago, it was a boiling cauldron of social extremism, extravagant criminality, and athletic excellence. Readers of this book have a new understanding of the city and the Thirties. --George F. Will
(starred review) A veteran journalist uses a variety of lenses to illuminate the dark story of the Black Legion, an association of murderous (white) domestic terrorists who briefly thrived in the upper Midwest. Stanton unfolds the history of the Legion gradually, always keeping it in the social, cultural, and economic context of the area where it was born and grew.... First-rate reporting and a seminar in how to employ context in investigative and historical journalism.-- "Kirkus"
Glittering triumphs cover up a sordid racist conspiracy in this lively vignette.... Swerving between hysterical excitement and hysterical fear, the city embodied the roiling socioeconomic and ideological currents of the 1930s.... a cauldron of racial tensions, police brutality, and strife between management and workers.-- "Publishers Weekly"
(Starred Review) If you're looking for a book that combines sports, crime, and history in one package, look no further.... For fans of books about baseball, Depression-era American History, and crime nonfiction, this book is a must-read.-- "Booklist"
Stanton's masterly prose is thoroughly engaging from cover to cover.-- "Library Journal"
[A] head-turning tale of the generally forgotten Black Legion terrorist group and Detroit in the 1930s.-- "Us News and World Report"