The New England Patriots have become a dynasty, though it didn’t begin that way. Love them or hate them, Pats have captured this country’s attention like no other franchise. From two award-winning authors, this is the first complete story of a legendary team and its five championship trophies. Stout and Johnson tell the history in full and in colorful detail, along with essays by Richard Johnson, Upton Bell, Leigh Montville, Howard Bryant, Ron Borges, Lesley Visser, and George Plimpton. [SAB0TEUR CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0 "")
**Leigh Montville** is a former sports columnist for \_The Boston Globe\_ and former senior writer for \_Sports Illustrated.\_ He has written nine books including \_New York Times\_ bestsellers about Dale Earnhardt, Ted Williams, and Babe Ruth.
**Richard Johnson** is the author or co-author of 23 books including **New England Patriots: Yesterday and Today**. He is also the curator of the Sports Museum of New England. Photo: [The Sports Museum](https://sportsmuseum.org/)
Glenn Stout has been the series editor of *The Best American Sports Writing* since its inception and is the author of numerous award-winning books including *Red Sox Century*, *Yankees Century*, *The Dodgers*, *The Cubs*, and *Nine Months at Ground Zero*. Set against the backdrop of the roaring 1920s, Glenn's newest book, *Young Woman and the Sea*, reveals the dramatic and inspiring story of Trudy Ederle's pursuit of a goal no one believed possible -- to become the first woman to swim the English Channel -- which was and still is, a feat more uncommon than scaling Mount Everest. In addition to writing books, Glenn has published numerous articles in many national and regional publications. He worked his way through Bard College in the construction industry as a concrete laborer and form carpenter. He lives in Vermont. Photo courtesy of Saoria Stout.