About this item
Joe Louis defended his heavyweight boxing title an astonishing twenty-five times and reigned as world champion for more than eleven years. He got more column inches of newspaper coverage in the 1930s than FDR did. His racially and politically charged defeat of Max Schmeling in 1938 made Louis a national hero. But as important as his record is what he meant to African-Americans: at a time when the boxing ring was the only venue where black and white could meet on equal terms, Louis embodied all their hopes for dignity and equality.Through meticulous research and first-hand interviews, acclaimed historian and biographer Randy Roberts presents Louis, and his impact on sport and country, in a way never before accomplished. Roberts reveals an athlete who carefully managed his public image, and whose relationships with both the black and white communities - including his relationships with mobsters - were far more complex than the simplistic accounts of heroism and victimization that have dominated previous biographies.
About the Author
I write books that I would like to read, stories about sports and film icons who had an impact on American history. People like John Wayne, Joe Louis, and Muhammad Ali. My most recent book, "Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X" combines my interests in sports, politics, and race. It looks at two men, Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X, and how they changed the sports and political landscape in America. Previously I published books that have explored the role that college football players and coaches have played during times of national crisis. In 2013, I published "Rising Tide: Bear Bryant, Joe Namath, and Dixie's Last Quarter" (co-authored with Ed Krzemienski) . It details the relationship between Bear Bryant and Joe Namath during the early 1960s, a time of Civil Rights struggles, a violent backlash, and the emergence of Alabama as the finest football team in the nation. It features two iconic personalities fighting for victories on the field and their careers off the field.In 2011 I published "A Team for America: The Army-Navy Game That Rallied a Nation." It's the story of a West Point football team during World War II, striving to win a national championship before they shipped off to the battle front. It was their last chance to be boys before the nation demanded that they be men. During the months between D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge the team gave the millions of American soldiers around the world something to celebrate. After their last game General Douglas MacArthur wired Coach Red Blaik, "THE GREATEST OF ALL ARMY TEAMS. WE HAVE STOPPED THE WAR TO CELEBRATE YOUR MAGNIFICENT SUCCESS."
