Peter Levine is best known for his work in sport and American social history, especially for his books: A.G. Spalding and the Rise of Baseball; Idols of the Game with Robert Lipsyte; and Ellis Island to Ebbets Field: Sport and the American Jewish Experience. He has also written a novel, The Rabbi of Swat, which is a re-imagining of the baseball season of 1927--the year Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs and led the Yankees to the American League pennant. Born and raised in Brooklyn, a graduate of Columbia and Rutgers, Levine taught in the History department at MSU since 1969, the year he left graduate school. Trained originally as a Jacksonian political historian, Levine's scholarly and writing interests expanded to encompass the entire 19th century and beyond. His works engage in a wide range of interelated themes and topics, including the immigrant experience and assimilation, American-Jewish history and culture, and American popular culture. Peter Levine retired from MSU in 2000 and now lives in Brooklyn where he continues to write. He is also an actor, appearing in numerous productions in New York and throughout the Northeast.