Bolsmann, Chris and George N. Kioussis, eds. Soccer Frontiers: The Global Game in the United States, 1863-1913. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2021. Pp. 306. $65.00, hard cover and PDF. Reviewed by Daniel Hart Soccer––the “beautiful game”––swept back into the American consciousness this fall with a fine showing by the United States Men’s National Team…
Wolff, Alexander. Big Game, Small World: A Basketball Adventure (Revised and Expanded Twentieth Anniversary Edition). Durham: Duke University Press, 2022. Pp. 424. $24.95 paperback and e-book. Originally reported during a transformative time for basketball in the 1990s, Alexander Wolff’s book was (and unfortunately still remains) a product of its time. However, despite a fascination with…
Steven A. Riess, Horse Racing the Chicago Way: Gambling, Politics and Organized Crime, 1837-1911. (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2022). Reviewed by Nicholas E. Sarantakes As the title indicates, Steven A. Riess studies the rise and fall of horse racing in Chicago in Horse Racing the Chicago Way: Gambling, Politics and Organized Crime, 1837-1911. However, as the…
Aiello, Thomas. Hoops: A Cultural History of Basketball in America. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2022. Pp. 304. $34 paperback and e-book. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski Writing a comprehensive history of anything is a hard task, one requiring much discipline, devotion… and selection. Establishing what made a particular historical activity or development what it…
Moore, Louis. We Will Win the Day: The Civil Rights Movement, the Black Athlete, and the Quest for Equality. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2021. Pp. 260. $24.95 paperback and e-book. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski Louis Moore’s We Will Win the Day is the first book in a new series from the University Press of…
Sport in American History presents a two-part series on the beginning and end of Major League sports in Oakland. SAH reviews two books on the forgotten California Golden Seals and unforgettable Oakland A’s. Woven into the reviews––a look at the hockey Seals’ never-ending woes and the 50th anniversary of the Oakland A’s first World Series…
Sport in American History presents a two-part series on the beginning and end of Major League sports in Oakland. SAH reviews two books on the forgotten California Golden Seals and unforgettable Oakland A’s. Woven into the reviews––a look at the hockey Seals’ never-ending woes and the 50th anniversary of the Oakland A’s first World Series…
Wernicke, Luciano. Incredible World Cup Stories: Wildest Tales and Most Dramatic Moments from Uruguay 1930 to Qatar 2022. Sutherland House, 2022. Pp. 368. $24.95 paperback. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski Spanning almost 100 years, World Cup tournaments have been––without a doubt––some of the most exciting and popular sport competitions. Compiling just one book of stories about…
Guinan, Stephen. We Are The Troopers: The Women of the Winningest Team in Pro Football History. New York: Hachette Books, 2022. Pp. vii + 288. Reviewed by Russ Crawford The stories of the pioneers of women’s tackle football are starting to make their way into print. Those who follow this site have had the chance…
Wood, Keith Brian. Memphis Hoops: Race and Basketball in the Bluff City, 1968–1997. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2021. Pp. 218. $35.00 hardback and ebook. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski The first integrated high school game in Memphis took place on September 15, 1965, between all-white Catholic High and all-black Father Bertrand High. The game functions…
Stark, Douglas, ed. The James Naismith Reader. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2021. Pp. 251. $29.95. hardback and ebook. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski Basketball’s initial function was to correct and contain the seemingly endless energy of young students, who found themselves in need of physical and intellectual occupation during long and dark winter months in…
Cannon, Jason. Charlie Murphy: The Iconoclastic Showman Behind the Chicago Cubs. University of Nebraska Press, 2022. Pp. 376. Acknowledgments, bibliography, epilogue, index, introduction, notes. $36.95 hardback. Reviewed by Bob D’Angelo Charlie Murphy would have been in his element in today’s sports world. Controversial, opinionated, and never one to mince words, the man who owned the…
Kenny, Kevin. Golf’s Forgotten Hero: The Life of John McDermott. Independently published, 2022. Pp. ix+106. Appendices, Bibliographical references, and Index. $12 paperback. Reviewed by Erica J. Zonder In May 2022, tennis player Naomi Osaka returned to play at Roland Garros, where just a year earlier she had withdrawn from the tournament citing mental health reasons.…
Catsam, Derek Charles. Flashpoint: How a Little-Known Sporting Event Fueled America’s Anti-Apartheid Movement. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2021. Pp. xxviii + 213. 10 unnumbered pages of plates and index. $34.00 hardcover, $32.00 e-book. Reviewed by Tony Calandrillo In Flashpoint: How a Little-Known Sporting Event Fueled America’s Anti-Apartheid Movement, Derek Charles Catsam, Professor of History…
Simpson, Kevin E. Soccer Under the Swastika: Stories of Survival and Resistance During the Holocaust, Revised Edition. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2020. Pp. 368. $26.00 paperback. $24.50 ebook. Reviewed by Daniel Hart Sports idioms are such a part of the American lexicon that their respective meanings have become obscured by their quotidian use: sudden-death…
Sport in American History 