Super Bowl XXV was held at the end of the 1990 season, a fantastic game between the Buffalo Bills - the new team on the block with a dynamic offense - and the New York Giants - the old guard, big on defense and a running game. Headed up by Jim Kelly and backup quarterback Jeff Hostetler, these teams competed in an exciting, closely contested game devoid of turnovers.

The subtitle "From the Persian Gulf to the Shores of West Florida: The New York Giants, the Buffalo Bulls, and Super Bowl XXV" is a little misleading. The Persian Gulf War is more of a backdrop, going on behind the scenes, and affecting the game in such ways as increasing security, and the discussion over whether or not the game should go on during a war. Really, it's all about the football. Lazarus begins by showing Hostetler and Kelly rising through the ranks in college to play in the NFL, overviews the season and playoffs, before diving in to the heart of the narrative: Super Bowl XXV. The play-by-play of this game is at the heart of the book and where Lazarus' writing really shines. He throws in other things, too, such as flashbacks to previous Super Bowls and a chapter on the assistant coaches working with the Giants who would go on to have fantastic careers of their own (Belichick and Coughlin, anyone?), but I found this gave the narrative a staccato rhythm, instead of building up momentum to the final play of the game. Also, he goes on a bit too long in the final chapters of "after" the big game, and I started to lose interest. Lazarus has clearly done his research and extensive interviews in 2010, so the inclusion of players' and coaches' reminiscences add a lot. If you're a Giants or a Bills fan - or even if you're just a football fan - it's worth a look. ( )

I enjoyed this book. I loved reading about the game and the way it helped a nation through a time of great strife. Although i'm a Bills fan, it was the closest superbowl game in history, that says something about the calibur of both teams. If your a sports fan, read this book. ( )

I was 13 years old when the Super Bowl became the center of life in our small town in upstate New York. We were close enough to Buffalo that we were certainly in Bills country, but there were enough Giants fans around to keep everyone on their toes. This book brings it all back. It's most interesting as it reveals how pro-war patriotism was kindled by the government, the media, and the NFL, even though the author doesn't do anything to critique it. ( )

This is an early reviewer book. There aren't really spoilers, unless you don't know what happened in Super Bowl XXV...well if that's the case then there are probably spoilers. This was readable. It starts with a lot of detailed info about Jim Kelly and about Jeff Hostetler, mostly, and a little about Ottis Anderson. Hostetler and Anderson were backups (Anderson because of age I guess) who had to carry the team in the Super Bowl & came through, so they are a dramatic focus. And Kelly of course. Towards the end he spends some time on the coaches -- a lot more on Parcells of course, and the early days of Belichick. But the promise of the book is not delivered on. I don't feel the author did a good job of integrating the events of the buildup to war, and the beginning of the air war. Maybe it is too hard to do, maybe he doesn't have the skills, maybe he didn't have enough actual content to bring into play. I don't know but it was moderately interesting, and I think competently written but not compelling. Also he talks about one athlete wearing something saying "peace", but he doesn't draw at all from the opposition to the war & I wonder if there might have been an interesting way to do so. Maybe not, mostly the anti-war people are also anti-super bowl...I think of it too because there was some coverage of Occupy St. Louis providing a big TV with the World Series on it this week. But of course football is not baseball. Anyway, when I got this book I was absolutely sure I would pass it on to my friend the NYGiants fan, but now I'm not sure; I'm not sure there is much content that a NYGiants fan would find compelling.

Although sports books are not my usual pick, I was excited to get a copy of this book for my classroom library. The research was in depth, and the interviews provided a side of the game that viewers wouldn't have access to by simply turning on ESPN. Although I see the significance of this game (closest in history), I don't think it was really enough to justify a novel of this size. I would like to see more from this author though, because my high school students have enjoyed the book thus far and found it a challenging, but fun read. ( )