Luther, Jessica. Unsportsmanlike Conduct: College Football and the Politics of Rape. New York: Akashic, 2016. Pp. 247. Notes. $15.95 paperback. Reviewed by Noah Cohan Jessica Luther didn’t intend to make a career at the intersection of journalism, college football, and sexual assault. But not long after she started her sports blog, Power Forward, in 2011,[1]…
Kirschbaum, Erik. Soccer without Borders: Jurgen Klinsmann, Coaching the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team and the Quest for the World Cup. New York, NY: Picador Press, 2016. Pp. xxv+358. Author’s Note and Index. $25 hardcover. Reviewed by Cedrick G. Heraux Hired in July 2011 to coach the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT), Jurgen Klinsmann…
Bar-On, Tamir. The World Through Soccer: The Cultural Impact of a Global Sport. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. Pp. xxiii+307. Appendix, notes, bibliography, and index. $92.00 hardback, $89.99 electronic book. Reviewed by Zachary R. Bigalke Anyone who has watched soccer in recent years has seen a dizzying array of different formations and tactics being…
Guroff, Margaret. The Mechanical Horse: How the Bicycle Reshaped American Life. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2016. Pp. 295. Abbreviations, bibliography, notes, index, 10 b&w photos, and 5 b&w illustrations. $24.95 hardcover. Reviewed by Lindsay Parks Pieper I recently visited Washington, D.C., to conduct research in the Library of Congress. The proximity of the library…
Messner, Michael A. and Musto, Michela. Child’s Play: Sport in Kids’ Worlds. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2016. Pp. 256. Notes, indexes, and appendices. $90, cloth, $29.95 paperback. Reviewed by Sam White Child’s Play: Sport in Kids’ Worlds is a welcome contribution to both the fields of Childhood Studies and Sport Studies. While primarily…
Castro, Tony. DiMag & Mick: Sibling Rivals, Yankee Blood Brothers. Lanham, MD: Lyons Press, 2016. Reviewed by Brett L. Abrams The author, a long-time sportswriter, spent many hours with Mickey Mantle on golf courses and at bars during the 1970s and 80s. Castro spent time with Joe DiMaggio’s friends and familiars. The result is this book…
Rowley, Christopher. The Shared Origins of Football, Rugby, and Soccer. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. Pp. xi+248. Bibliography and index. $36.00 hardback, $35.99 electronic book. Reviewed by Zachary R. Bigalke My graduate advisor originally hails from Peru, and he is fond of telling a story from his earliest days as a graduate student in…
Young, William A. John Tortes “Chief” Meyers: A Baseball Biography. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2012. Pp. 257. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $29.95 paperback. Reviewed by Andrew McGregor The stories of American Indians in baseball are often overlooked. During the first two decades of the twentieth century they were among the game’s biggest stars, annually playing in…
Hoffmann, Melody L. Bike Lanes Are White Lanes: Bicycle Advocacy and Urban Planning. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2016. Pp. 210. Notes, bibliography, and index. $40.00 hardcover. Reviewed by Cat Ariail Although a slim book, Melody Hoffmann’s Bike Lanes are White Lanes is powerfully relevant. Hoffmann, a communication studies scholar (and avid bicyclist), critiques the…
Branson, Douglas M. Greatness in the Shadows: Larry Doby and the Integration of the American League. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2016. Pp. 336 + Photographs, Tables, Notes, Bibliography, Index. $34.95 Hardcover. Reviewed by Josh Howard As Douglas Branson himself admits, Greatness in the Shadows is not a biography. Instead, his work is an analysis of the literature—or…
Sport in American History 