He climbed into the car and rolled down the window to wave at his new fans as the driver pulled away from the curb. Volstead was coming, but it wouldn’t affect him much. Word was the government hadn’t hired nearly the manpower needed to enforce it, and Babe and people like him would be allowed certain exemptions. As they always had. That was the way of things, after all.

Babe rolled the window back up as the car accelerated.

“Driver, what’s your name?”

“George, Mr. Ruth.”

“Ain’t that a kick? That’s my name, too. But you call me Babe. Okay, George?”

“You betcha, Babe. An honor to meet you, sir.”

“Ah, I’m just a ballplayer, George. Can’t even read good.”

“But you can hit, sir. You can hit for miles. I just want to be the first to say, ‘Welcome to New York, Babe.’”

“Well, thank you, George. Happy to be here. Gonna be a good year, I think.”

“A good decade,” George said.

“You can say that twice.”

A good decade. So it would be. Babe looked out the window, at New York in all its bustle and shine, all its lights and billboards and limestone towers. What a day. What a city. What a time to be alive.

Acknowledgements

A City in Terror by Francis Russell is the authoritative account of the Boston police strike and its aftermath. It was an invaluable resource.

Other source material included The Great Influenza by John M. Barry; Babe: The Legend Comes to Life by Robert W. Creamer; The Burning by Tim Madigan; Reds by Ted Morgan; Standing at Armageddon by Nell Irvin Painter; Dark Tide by Stephen Puleo; Babe Ruth: Launching the Legend by Jim Reisler; Perilous Times by Geoffrey R. Stone; The Red Sox Century by Glenn Stout and Richard A. Johnson; The Year the Red Sox Won the World Series by Ty Waterman and Mel Springer; Babe Ruth and the 1918 Red Sox by Allan Wood; and A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn.

A thousand thanks to Leonard Alkins, Tom Bernardo, Kristy Cardellio, Christine Caya, John J. Devine, John Dorsey, Alix Douglas, Carla Eigen, Mal Ellenburg, Tom Franklin, Lisa Gallagher, Federica Maggio, William P. Marchione, Julieanne McNarry, Michael Morrison, Thomas O’Connor (the dean of Boston historians), George Pelecanos, Paula Posnick, Jr., Richard Price, Ann Rittenberg, Hilda Rogers, Henry F. Scannell, Claire Wachtel, Sterling Watson, and Donna Wells.

Lastly, a particular debt of gratitude is owed to U.S. Army Sergeant Luis Araujo, whose selflessness and heroism lit the necessary fires.

About the Author

DENNIS LEHANE is the author of seven novels. These include the New York Times bestsellers Gone, Baby, Gone; Mystic River; and Shutter Island, as well as Coronado, a collection of short stories and a play. He and his wife, Angie, divide their time between Boston and the Gulf Coast of Florida.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

Also by Dennis Lehane

A Drink Before the War

Darkness, Take My Hand