Who Was Muhammad Ali?


Book Description

Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. won the world heavyweight championship at the age of 22, the same year he joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. He would go on to become the first and only three-time (in succession) World Heavyweight Champion. Nicknamed “The Greatest,” Ali was as well known for his unique boxing style, consisting of the Ali Shuffle and the rope-a-dope, as he was for the catchphrase “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” He was an uncompromising athlete who brought beauty and grace to a very rough sport and became one of the world’s most famous cultural icons. Read Who Was Muhammad Ali? and discover “The Greatest.”




Postwar America


Book Description

From the outbreak of the Cold War to the rise of the United States as the last remaining superpower, the years following World War II were filled with momentous events and rapid change. Diplomatically, economically, politically, and culturally, the United States became a major influence around the globe. On the domestic front, this period witnessed some of the most turbulent and prosperous years in American history. "Postwar America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History" provides detailed coverage of all the remarkable developments within the United States during this period, as well as their dramatic impact on the rest of the world. A-Z entries address specific persons, groups, concepts, events, geographical locations, organizations, and cultural and technological phenomena. Sidebars highlight primary source materials, items of special interest, statistical data, and other information; and Cultural Landmark entries chronologically detail the music, literature, arts, and cultural history of the era. Bibliographies covering literature from the postwar era and about the era are also included, as are illustrations and specialized indexes.







The Greatest: Muhammad Ali


Book Description

“Captures the excitement that Ali created in a generation of young African Americans, who found in the brash, young boxer a new kind of hero.” —Booklist Includes photos From his childhood in the segregated South to his final fight with Parkinson’s disease, Muhammad Ali never backed down. He was banned from boxing during his prime because he refused to fight in Vietnam. He became a symbol of the antiwar movement—and a defender of civil rights. As “The Greatest,” he was a boxer of undeniable talent and courage. He took the world by storm—only Ali could “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” From a New York Times–bestselling author and winner of numerous awards—including the Michael L. Printz Award, Newbery Honors, a Caldecott Honor and five Coretta Scott King awards—this is an inspiring biography of Ali, Olympic gold medalist, former heavyweight champion, and one of the most influential people of all time. “Myers interweaves fight sequences with the boxer’s life story and the political events and issues of the day. He doesn’t shy away from reporting on the brutality of the sport and documents the toll it has taken on its many stars . . . Myers’s writing flows while describing the boxing action and the legend’s larger-than-life story.” —School Library Journal




Ring of Hate: Joe Louis Vs. Max Schmeling


Book Description

The definitive book (The Ring) on one of the greatest sports events of the twentieth century, the heavyweight championship bout between Germany's Max Schmeling and America's "Brown Bomber," Joe Louis. More than the world heavyweight championship was at stake when Joe Louis fought Max Schmeling on June 22, 1938. In a world on the brink of war, the fight was depicted as a contest between nations, races, and political ideologies, the symbol of a much vaster struggle. Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels boasted that the Aryan Schmeling would crush his "inferior" black opponent. President Roosevelt told Louis, his guest at the White House, that "America needs muscles like yours to beat Germany." For Louis, this was also his chance to avenge the only loss in his brilliant career-by a knockout-to the same Max Schmeling two years earlier. Recreating the drama of their momentous bout, the author traces the lives of both fighters before and after the fight, including Schmeling's efforts in Nazi Germany to protect Jewish friends and the two boxers' surprising friendship in the postwar years. In Ring of Hate Myler tells the story of two decent men, drawn together by boxing and divided by the cruel demands of competing nations. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.




Publication


Book Description




Boxing, Narrative and Culture


Book Description

Boxing, Narrative and Culture: Critical Perspectives is the first interdisciplinary response to the dominant boxing narratives that are produced, performed and circulated in commercial boxing culture. This collection includes global perspectives on boxing. It highlights the diverse range of bodies and communities that engage with boxing practices but are oftentimes overlooked and overwritten by popular narrative tropes and misconceptions of the sport. These interdisciplinary and global perspectives engage with boxing’s shared narrative resources, offering new readings and insights on how and what boxing performs and for whom. The contributors to this collection are academics, artists, amateur boxers, and/or coaches who provide a culture critique of boxing. The work shows how boxing practices are performed and channelled by individuals and communities who access and utilise boxing culture as a means of physical enquiry, political statement, and community building. These contributions challenge the notion that boxing is a sport reserved for masculine bodies adorned as heroes, warriors, or victims of the sport. Exploring key themes in socio-cultural studies including gender, race, community, media and performance, this book is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in physical culture, sport studies, cultural studies, gender studies, cultural geography, critical race theory, labour studies, performance studies or media studies.




The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Boxing


Book Description

From the earliest days of 19th-century prize-fighters to the modern era, this book highlights the great names and stories of some of the worlds most recognizable characters, such as Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, and Roy Jones.




The First Black Boxing Champions


Book Description

This volume presents fifteen chapters of biography of African American and black champions and challengers of the early prize ring. They range from Tom Molineaux, a slave who won freedom and fame in the ring in the early 1800s; to Joe Gans, the first African American world champion; to the flamboyant Jack Johnson, deemed such a threat to white society that film of his defeat of former champion and "Great White Hope" Jim Jeffries was banned across much of the country. Photographs, period drawings, cartoons, and fight posters enhance the biographies. Round-by-round coverage of select historic fights is included, as is a foreword by Hall-of-Fame boxing announcer Al Bernstein.