When Lions Were Kings: The Detroit Lions and the Fabulous Fifties (Painted Turtle Press)

No one can write about history as well as Richard Bak! Us Detroiters are very lucky to have these extraordinary stories on our shelves. And cheers to the writer himself. I have the fortunate memory of working with Richard back in the late 80's at an advertising firm where we wrote marketing magazines for General Motors. You could tell he had great talent even back then.. though we'd spend a number of extended lunch hours toasting instead of writing. Youth! Really enjoying your books Mr. Bak and hope you're fabulous! Greg

One of the best football books I’ve ever read. And I’ve read a ton of them over the decades. Richard Bak’s page turner is a book to savor. He brings to life the great Lions teams of the fifties with their cast of characters that rivals the 1985 Bears. Furthermore Bak beautifully captures the decade of fifties including American culture, social development, music, entertainment and political history. His lens of focus varies seamlessly. Anyone who has an interest in football, the NFL, American history, Detroit and it’s Lions, and well written easy to read nonfiction will be absolutely delighted with this book. It’s printing design accentuates the tremendous reading experience.

I have read many of Richard Bak’s books, “ A Place For Summer, Detroitland, Cobb Would Have Caught It...And he has done it again with “When Lions Were Kings”. 3 generations of Detroit Lions fans have faint or no memories of the Championship teams of the 50’s. Mr Bak has with great detail made that time come alive. He weaves the story of an industrial city and the culture of the times with the love of their football teams. This book is more than The Lions won this game won that game. The players like Bobby Layne, Doak Walker, Joe Schmidt, Hunchy, and all the rest were the most colorful I the game and Bak makes them vivid!!! LIONS FANS YES we had a good football team and now you can and MUST read about it. Also some classic pictures

It was fun reading this book. While we have times as Lions' fans we hear some of the names from this era (particularly Bobby Layne) the details about this era are known much less to those in the Detroit area than the great Tiger teams in the past. It was nice reading this book and just learning about the Lions and getting to know these players from 1950 to 1959. If you want to learn about the players that made this era a great one for the Lions and want to know a little about the personalities of these players, this book is a winner.Richard Bak's Detroit-based sports books are always a great read.

As an 11 year-old who fell in love with the Lions on Thanksgiving Day in 1962, when the Packers were demolished, I've stayed with them ever since (not a wise choice, huh?). But this gave me a great view of life in the '50s, the Lions in the '50s, and pro athletes before they became huge celebrities. And therefore, this is a good book period - if for no other reasons than the slice of life. Admittedly it's better if you're a Lions fan, but it's still a well-written, comprehensive book that explores several areas. This almost made me go back and get out my 1963 Topps cards.

Richard Bak has scored the winning touchdown with his historical narrative of the Lions of the '50's. Enjoy his writing style, and how the book was structured. The only aspect that is a slight concern is he has a few "strategy" facts, and player personnel facts incorrect, yet the strengths which there are many far outweigh my concerns. The fact that he delved into culture aspects of the decade and told stories of the players personal lives sure added to the book. Way to go Richard Bak. Would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in this time frame of football history.

I bought this book for my 86 year old father who used to go Lions games with his dad at Briggs Stadium in the Lions glory days. He is LOVING going down memory lane. He said it is a fantastic read and covers more than just the team...it talks about what parking cost back in the day and little details that really help jog my dad's memories of that era of Lions football. Thank you for writing this book...it is providing so much joy to my dad.

I'm really enjoying reading this book. There is so much detail into the players, games and of the local area during this great period of Lions' success. Also, a very good section of color and b/w photos from the era.