Drawing on 720 original interviews, a New York Times best-selling sportswriter captures as never before the elusive truth about the greatest athlete of all time who took the world by storm from the mid-1980s into the early 1990s--and then, almost overnight, disappeared.

Presents an illustrated biography of the man who broke baseball's color barrier and changed the way Americans viewed equality in sports. "Jackie Robinson always loved sports, especially baseball. He could run, leap, and throw better than any other kid around. But he lived at a time when the rules weren't fair to African Americans: Even though Jackie was a great athlete, he wasn't allowed on the best teams just because of the color of his skin. Jackie...

When journalist Terence Moore was 12 years old, he treasured his poster of Henry Aaron. Years later, Aaron would sign it for him: "Best wishes to Terry." Later still, Moore would be named an honorary pall bearer at the home run king's funeral, staying up late into the night with Aaron's widow, Billye, to get the obituary just right for the program. Friends and family knew Aaron as quick-witted, hilarious, and fiercely opinionated beyond what was shown...