by Marshall Adesman (Author)
My purpose in writing The Mountain Empire League was to explain how the world still had a long way to go in the immediate aftermath of Jackie Robinson. To the best of my knowledge, no work of fiction has ever focused on the hardships faced by young African-American men who were hoping to make a career for themselves in professional baseball. The story of the sport's integration, most especially in the minor leagues, needs to be told, because it is filled with a great many unsung heroes. Through the use of a fictional league and characters, I have attempted to tell that tale, and salute them as the pioneers they were.
I do not believe this is strictly a "baseball novel." Baseball is most assuredly the backdrop, but it is a book about America, the nation we were and the nation we were trying to become. Set primarily in 1951 and 1952, we are exposed to a country that was beginning to see and hear the rumblings of social change, sights and sounds that, sadly, have not abated with time.