"Stand on the Bench, Achilles" is the first novel by American writer Chris Baldwin. Set during the Jazz Age, the book revolves around an amateur baseball team in their mythic quest to win a post-season tournament. It features vibrant characters, irresponsible tobacco abuse, a hazy and nostalgic narrative, and battles staged upon the baseball diamonds of yesterday. From the book cover: "It was after the presidency of Calvin Coolidge that our ball club swung for the fences. Enter a hot-headed ringer, an unsure young pitcher with a tremendous arm, an aging infielder as charismatic as he was slovenly, and a weary manager willing to sacrifice everything for one last hurrah, and the result is an epic tale as old as time. It’s a story about comradery, confidence, courage, and destiny as well as a mythic chronicle about America, with a large helping of nostalgia. These ball games now exist only in our memory, but at the time, they were monumental battles. They were contests by which men wrestled with the Fates. Everything now seems more beautiful because it was doomed." If you are a fan of fiction, historical fiction, sports, and baseball, please give this book a read!