Total Patriots: The Definitive Encyclopedia of the World-Class Franchise
by Bob Hyldburg
List Price:
Our Price: $11.98
You Save: $17.97 (60%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $6.41 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Bob HyldburgForeword: Gino Cappelletti
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-09-14
ISBN: 1600780997
Number of pages: 800
Publisher: Triumph Books
Book Reviews of Total Patriots: The Definitive Encyclopedia of the World-Class Franchise
Book Review: A Comprehensive If Not Always Well Organized Encyclopedia of the New England Patriots
Summary: 4 Stars
Being a rather comprehensive encyclopedia of the New England Patriots this is clearly a must have for any Patriots fan. It has a synopsis of ever single New England Patriots season in it's history, a list of every single player who ever played a game for the Patriots, profiles of historical and current players, and game synopsis of all the playoff and prime time games ever played. And of course it has about every single record imaginable.
While this is a great, great resource for Patriots fans, I have many suggestions for any future editions because I found it lacking in many areas.
First, the writing is rather pedestrian and dry. This was a ton of work for just one author so I can certainly understand that. But the prose is uneven and often inconsistent, which leads me to my next point.
In the season by season synopsis the author does a poor job of really providing a theme for the season. It's just dry prose walking the reader through what happened that year. Worse yet the major title to each season doesn't even always tell you what the ultimate result was. For example, under the 1978 season it does tell you the last game was a 31-14 loss to the Houston Oilers in the playoffs. And in fact it barely even mentions the game at all. Yet later, for example the 1998 recap, the header does tell you that the Patriots lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars 25-10 in the Wild Card playoff. I would have found it extremely helpful for this information to be more prominent throughout.
Further, I really wish in this section the player statistics didn't talk about touchdown's thrown or interceptions made, but gave us the leading rusher, passer, receiver, kick returner, tackler, interceptions leaders, similar to what is done in the NFL Record and Fact Book. I found the information on player statistics here to be interesting but not greatly informative.
I did greatly enjoy the player profiles, which were mini-biographies of all the Patriots' great players throughout it's history, some with a list of their biggest highlights for moments as Patriots players. I did wonder why safety Ron Hall didn't merit a bio (1961-1967). He still holds the team record with the most interceptions in a season with 9 and was an important part of the defense in the Patriots' early years, including some of the more successful seasons.
There are all kinds of records in this book, even very obscure ones. And the author does a nice of job of walking the reader through the progression of records being made and broken. But I found this section somewhat disorganized and were you looking for one specific fact it would take a while to wade through all the information to get to what you are looking for.
There is a good, concise synopsis of the major records at the end of the book, but it would be nice to have one little area with all the major ones listed instead of having to wade through to find what you are looking for.
There is also a trivia section near the end which is sometimes pretty entertaining but like the rest of the book I often found the way it was organized off putting.
All this aside, this is truly a great resource for almost anything you'd want to know about the New England Patriots.
Sports Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Sports Books
The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding : The Bible of Bodybuilding, Fully Updated and Revisedby Arnold Schwarzenegger
Simon & Schuster; Published: 1999-11-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.05
Price in other shops:
The Encyclopedia of the Winter Olympics (Watts Reference)by John F. Wukovits
San Val; Published: 2002-03; School & Library Binding; Book
Best price: $33.00
ESPN Southeastern Conference Football Encyclopedia: The Complete HistoryESPN; Published: 2009-07-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.59
Price in other shops:
The Encyclopedia of the Swordby Nick Evangelista
Greenwood; Published: 1995-05-23; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $81.49
Price in other shops:
Great Sporting Quotationsby David Pickering
Cassell Reference; Published: 2001-08-22; Paperback; Book
Official Manchester United Illustrated Encyclopedia Hbby Chez Picthall
Andre Deutsch; Published: 1998-10-30; Hardcover; Book
Race, Culture, and the Revolt of the Black Athlete: The 1968 Olympic Protests and Their Aftermathby Douglas Hartmann
University Of Chicago Press; Published: 2004-01-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $64.97
Price in other shops:
Encyclopaedia of Sports Sciences and Medicineby ACSM
Collier Macmillan Ltd; Published: 1971-06; Hardcover; Book
The Racegoers' Encyclopediaby John White
HarperCollinsWillow; Published: 1992-05-04; Hardcover; Book
Glamour Girls: The Illustrated Encyclopediaby Steve Sullivan
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2000-03-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.99
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Never Give Up: My Stroke, My Recovery, and My Return to the NFLby Tedy Bruschi
Wiley; Published: 2008-08-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.94
Price in other shops:
Moving the Chains: Tom Brady and the Pursuit of Everythingby Charles P. Pierce
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 2007-10-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.07
Price in other shops:
War Room: The Legacy of Bill Belichick and the Art of Building the Perfect Teamby Michael Holley
It Books; Published: 2011-11-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.84
Price in other shops:
Artist Not Provided - NFL: America's Game: New England PatriotsNFL; Release date: 2007-10-02; DVD
Best price: $11.29
Price in other shops:
The Education of a Coachby David Halberstam
Hyperion; Published: 2006-08-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.10
Price in other shops:
New England Patriots: The Complete Illustrated Historyby Christopher Price
MVP Books; Published: 2010-09-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $20.44
Price in other shops:
Patriot Reign: Bill Belichick, the Coaches, and the Players Who Built a Championby Michael Holley
Published: 2005-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.49
Price in other shops:
Then Belichick Said to Brady: The Best New England Patriots Stories Ever Told (The Best Sports Stories Ever Told)by Jim Donaldson
Triumph Books; Published: 2009-09-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $57.36
NFL: History of the New England PatriotsWarner; Release date: 2008-11-11; DVD
Best price: $9.89
Price in other shops:
New England Patriots: The Complete Illustrated Historyby Christopher Price
MVP Books; Published: 2010-09-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops: