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Young' s carly years, this first chapter reveals one of the book' s greatest limitations. Because few records survive from Yc)ung' s life in Ohio and because the early sporting press did not delve into players' personal lives : is it does today facts that Browning readily points ( iut in his preface the book is Largely unable to provide detailed insight into Cy Young' s life before or nway from baseball. f the hook: s remaining fourteen chapters, nine : ire primarily devoted to charting the course of one of baseball's greatest careers. Built largely from box scores and game descriptions,these chapters recount the pitching performances that transfc) 1·med Young from strugglitig and inexperienced rookie to consistent and then dominant veteran to ageless and seemingly indestructible living legend. At times the sheer vc,lume of these game accounts becomes repetitive, but Browning nonetheless provides a detailed seasonby season sketch of Yi)ung' s pitching life that is not bring. This is no small task given that such newspaper reports makeup the greatest portic,n of Br(, wning's evidence . Despite the mixed effectiveness of the chic)nological reci,nstruc tion ( 31 Y(, ung' s career, the true strength of the Cy Yol! 11* A ] ixebal] Lile lies in the chapters in which the author breaks from pitching perfor, nances to analyze Young as sporting gentlemen, lactician, and adaptive athlete during o tinic of gic, it ch,zii, ge in h,isch,ill. Of these five chnp ters, three stand tiut. The two chapters that document the game: s transformatiOIls over the twenty-two years Young played {changes included increased distance from the mounct to home plate, the elimination of the foul strike rule, and the cementing of permanent bifederal baseball, to name but a few) prn <, f essays also provides topical breadth with sufficielit specilicity ti) give the reader . 1 solid intruilucticin ti) iii: iny overlotiked aspects of Kentucky's frontier histc,ry. A brief overview of each essay cannot pr(, vide the annIytical discuss,( m that each author deserves, but it Will give the reader a sense of the collection for further study. In Part One, entitled " Dependence and Autonomy," A. Gwynn Henderson examines the efforts of whites and Native Americans to control the Ohio Valley by focilsing on the L<, wer Sh. iwiice Town as a center for millticilitur. 11 intel·tictic ) 11 and tracie where the Indians maint: lined control 01 their own destiny by selectively bormwing from European culture until the beginning of the French and Indian War. Nancy (-)' Maley discusses frontier defenses and strategies by miting the differences, architectural and practic: i[, between 1(, i·Ls and stations, the construction of which was predicated on the nature of the danger present. 1) aniel Illake Smith ccmtrasts the romantic images of the Kentucky frontier with the harsh realities of pioneer life, concluding th . 11 pi)(, 1 faiiiilies, not independent male frontierSInen, priind ,· ily settled Kentucky. In Part Two, entitled " Enacting Expectations," Marion Nelson Winship cogently argues that Kentucky had far greater influence on national political affairs than its is31: ited location suggests. He argues that Kentucky' s leaders lind sharp minds and skillful pens and that their communiciiticins with Congress, contemporary political lenders , and the public, through letters and newspapers, placed Kentucky on the political map as a region of ctinsequence. Craig Tlicimpson Friend discusses the gcial ( if settlers to acquire land, gain wealth, and secure independence by linking the tllalket ec(momy and agriculture. Hc c

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