Book excerpt: Presents an analytical explanation of why cricket failed as an American sporting institution. Devotes much attention to the rise of organized American sports immediately before and after the Civil War and interprets this phenomenon in the context of both its premodern American history as well as its development up to the First World War. The geographical focus is on the larger urban areas of the Atlantic seaboard, but other urban and rural areas are also discussed. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR