Charging Through the AFL: Los Angeles and San Diego Chargers' Football in the 1960s Hardcover – September 29, 2004

I want to encourage every Charger & AFL fan who has even a slim interest in the history of the Bolts and their legendary AFL players to pick up this intelligently-written and arranged book. It would also make a great holiday gift for that Bolt fan you know. If you have seen or heard any of the recent San Diego media coverage on this book and heard the story behind its making, you can understand why I'm so jazzed about it.The author, who was being treated for advanced Hodgkins lymphoma at the time, spent 4 years delving in the Chargers archives and interviewing players for this definitive work. The book is filled with never-before-published photos (330 in all) and stories not only of well-known AFL Charger players and coaches, but also lesser-known and obscure players who spent time in the Bolts Powder Blues during the 1960s. In many cases, the author says these were some of the most interesting stories to share. Even former Charger players from that era have expressed amazement at the author's comprehensive efforts at recapturing the feelings of what it was like to be a player in the old AFL.For those of us oldsters who grew up in the 1960s with the Powder Blues, it will take us back to very fond memories of a bygone era. For those of you who weren't around then, you'll be even more proud of the Chargers legacy that we all now share as fans of the team. The book has been so popular the first printing is already sold out and is now on order for the second run. But it's worth the wait for all fans of the old AFL and those curious about what the "glory years" were all about! Tobias says his next project may be a history of the Coryell years of the Chargers. If his present book is any indication, that work will also be something to really appreciate. Go Bolts!

Until this book came out, I hadn't had any luck finding a quality book on the history of the San Diego Chargers. This book covers the first ten seasons of the San Diego Chargers- the American Football League years.With its glossy pages and dimensions of just over 12 inches tall and over 9 inches wide, the book is well-suited for presenting photographs. Just about every page has at least one picture.The book consists of four main sections:The first is a 15-page chronological narrative history (with photographs).The second section consists of 16 pages of nothing but photographs. Eight of those pages have at least one color photograph. The only color photographs in the book are in this section. By far most of the book's pictures are in black and white.The third section is 76 pages and is where the bulk of the reading is for this book. This has the author's interviews of 59 people connected with the Chargers- players, coaches, and one beat writer. Each interview is written up separately and lasts about a page or two.The last section is 93 pages of San Diego Charger statistics and box scores of every regular and post season Charger game of the 1960's. And, like the rest of the book, there are plenty of photographs throughout this section, too.The book is well-written. The photographs are enjoyable too. My main complaint (or wish) is that I would have liked a longer chronological narrative of the team's history than the 15-page one provided. However, the interview and statistical sections flesh out much of that history but just in a different format.I would recommend this book to anyone interested in San Diego Charger history of that era. And I thank the author for writing a book on a much overlooked slice of football history.

As a kid in the 1960s, I enjoyed watching the AFL more than the NFL. I would have preferred that the two leagues had not merged and stayed separate, keeping the Super Bowl a contest between two leagues instead of two conferences within one league. It could have been done if the leagues had agreed to a common draft instead of the competing drafts that were causing bidding wars on players such as Gale Sayers. I have never read or heard anything to indicate that a combined draft was discussed or considered.This book is great fun to read for any football fan who enjoys reading about sports history. For folks my age, it is very interesting to read oral histories of players we remember from the AFL days. In some cases, I read or saw a picture of a particular player and remembered their 1966 football cards, one of the best card sets of that decade. The back section of the book is excellent, a season by season recap done game by game.I didn't give it 5 stars because I would like to see more color photos and more photos of Lance Alworth making catches. He was one of the best ever, right up there with Jerry Rice.Overall, this is a very good history of the Chargers and their place in pro football history and especially American Football League history.

This book is a treasure if you were a follower of the AFL. And it does not matter what team you followed, you will like to old pictures and stories when it seemed players loved the game more than the money.

This is the perfect book for fans of the Chargers and the AFL. Author Tobias has secured hard-to-find photos and game programs as well as exclusive interviews with original members of the Los Angeles and San Diego Chargers. A comprehensive guide to the AFL Chargers. I love it.

A great book. a fun read. by a great author, filled with interviws and awesome pictures galore...A must have for any NFL or AFL fan of any age...Alex