Toussaint, Jean-Philippe. Shaun Whiteside, trans. Soccer. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2019. Pp 100. Notes. $12.95 paperback, eBook, pdf, $39.95 cloth. Reviewed by Patrick Salkeld Belgian novelist, filmmaker, and photographer Jean-Philippe Toussaint offers his readers a highly-detailed, often complex, and thought-provoking journey in his latest book, Soccer (translated by Shaun Whiteside). Unlike other soccer memoirs…
Organized by Patrick Salkeld Starting August 27 and culminating on September 8, 2018, Serena Williams played in the 2018 U.S. Open. Williams faced Naomi Osaka in the Women’s Singles Final overseen by chair umpire Carlos Ramos on September 8. During the second set, Ramos “called a code violation for coaching” when he saw Williams’ coach…
By Patrick Salkeld Certain years stand out in history, such as 1945 with the end of World War II or 1980 and the presidential election of Ronald Reagan due to his populist-nationalist campaign and the evolution of neoliberalism as the prevailing ideology of the United States government, because of their historical significance. The last twelve months…
Tamir Bar-On. Beyond Soccer: International Relations and Politics as Seen through the Beautiful Game. Lanham and New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 2017. 340 pages (including selected bibliography, index, and author information) US$35.00 (paperback). Reviewed by Patrick Salkeld As sport historians know, politics and sports coexist in the same spheres. Athletes, such as Colin Kaepernick or…
By Patrick Salkeld I attended my first NASSH conference in 2016 at Georgia Tech University. I met many scholars, found a home within the community, and spent much of my time talking to other soccer historians such as Zach Bigalke, George Kiousis, Chris Bolsmann, Chris Henderson, Gabe Logan, and David Kilpatrick. The soccer historians in…
By Patrick Salkeld Every year soccer fans experience the US Open Cup, the oldest soccer tournament in the United States. It started in October 1913 after FIFA sanctioned the American Amateur Football Association (AAFA), which renamed itself United States Football Association (USFA) that year and is now the United States Soccer Federation (USSF or US…
Kevin E. Simpson, Soccer under the Swastika: Stories of Survival and Resistance During the Holocaust. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016. xxix + 368 pp. 27 photos and illustrations, notes, bibliography, index, $40.00 hardback. Reviewed by Patrick Salkeld. I am a trained US historian with an emphasis on soccer, but much of my research spans…
Sports in American Life: A History. By Richard O. Davies. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2016. xi + 407 pp. Illustrations, appendices, notes, bibliography, index. $34.95. Reviewed by Patrick Salkeld This past year I finished my second (and final) year of graduate school at the University of Central Oklahoma. I also completed my first year of teaching…
By Patrick Salkeld Controversy surrounded Jürgen Klinsmann’s tenure as the head coach of the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) since nearly the beginning. He created tension between himself and Don Garber, the Commissioner of Major League Soccer (MLS), about implementing promotion and relegation in the United States and the quality of American soccer in…
By Patrick Salkeld I started to write and research for this paper in February 2016 after I submitted a proposal for the inaugural Gender and Sexuality Studies Conference held at the University of Central Oklahoma in September 2016. I already planned to write about Robbie Rogers and his contribution to global history when he came…
Sport in American History 