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

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

I no longer follow football but as soon as I saw this book on Amazon I knew I had to order it. Having grown up in the 1950s the Tigers were and still are my favorite team but this book on the Detroit Lions brought back a ton of memories. Names from the distant past were brought back to life to me in addition to names of players on opposing teams as well. The Lions won it all in 1952, 1953, and 1957 and just missing three peat in 1954.An individual chapter is devoted to each year of the 1950s in addition to chapters on other subjects such as the football trading cards many of which I recognized that I once had. I suppose the Lions were no different than other teams with their hi jinks antics led by quarterback Bobby Layne who enjoyed his after-hours extracurricular activities which led to his early death at the age of 59. Several other players passed away an a relatively early age many due to suffering dementia from too many concussions.The book contains anecdotes of numerous players in their relationship to one another so I don't want you to think it is all play-by-play game action. Coach Buddy Parker was at the helm for most of the decade. The Ol' Announcer, Van Patrick, and Bob Reynolds were the voices of the Lions for many years. I remember Patrick primarily from his years of covering the Tigers.If you remember the Detroit Lions of the 1950s this book is a must for your library and the memories will come rushing back. I was fortunate to see my first football game in 1958 when the Lions and Packers played to a 13-13 tie and it turned out to be Bobby Layne's last game with the Lions. The next day he was dealt to the Pittsburgh Steelers.The book contains sixteen pages of photographs including six pages of football trading cards from the mid-1950s, Buy the book. You won't be sorry.

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.