The Giants-Dodgers rivalry began in the 1840s, was considered to be the best in baseball by 1890, and continues to be the game's oldest and most storied rivalry today. Three reasons it has been the best are how often both teams have been good, how rarely they have been bad, and how tenaciously they have battled each other. At the rivalry's peak, from 1946 to 1971, the Giants and Dodgers finished either one - two or within five games of first place a remarkable nine times. This, the first book on the Giants-Dodgers saga in over forty years, is the definitive account of the rivalry from its beginning to the present. It covers both teams and their players, including all the greats, such as Wee Willie Keeler, John McGraw, Christy Mathewson, Mel Ott, Leo Durocher, Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Ralph Branca, Sandy Koufax, Juan Marichal, Joe Morgan, Tommy Lasorda, and Barry Bonds, among many others. It also examines the two teams' four cities, and gives special attention to their moves to California in the 1950s. The rivalry arguably reached its apex in the years following the move.