Gillmeister, Heiner. Tennis: A Cultural History. 2nd Edition. Bristol, CT: Equinox, 2017. Pp. xvi+599. Notes, bibliography, illustrated sources, index. $45 paperback. Reviewed by Robert J. Lake In 1997, when Heiner Gillmeister brought out his first edition of Tennis: A Cultural History, there was very little else on the market in terms of tennis history texts.…
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…
The following is an excerpt from Tall Tales and Short Shorts: Dr. J, Pistol Pete, and the Birth of the Modern NBA. Published by Rowman & Littlefield on May 26, 2017, Adam J. Criblez provides an account of professional basketball in the United States in the 1970s. This excerpt comes from Chapter 1: “1969 to 1970” and…
By Cat Ariail Next year, I’ll be teaching an introduction to American Studies course, using sport to, as stated by the ASA, engage in “the interdisciplinary study of US and history in a global context.” The course will follow the keywords pedagogy so I’ll be using sport history and culture to analyze the meanings of…
Crawford, Russ. Le Football: A History of American Football in France. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2016. Pp. 366. 25 illustrations, 18 tables, endnotes, bibliography, index. $39.50 hardcover. Reviewed by John E. Price That football is a quintessentially American game is axiomatic, even tautological, to many. Sports reporters and commentators have opined for decades on…
By Andrew McGregor Recently the University of North Carolina (UNC) cancelled history professor Jay Smith’s class “Big-Time College Sports and the Rights of Athletes, 1956-Present.” The Daily Tar Heel reported that the department was “under pressure from the college to cancel the class to prevent students from learning about the University’s recent scandals.” His colleagues…
Endsley, Brian M. Finding the Left Arm of God: Sandy Koufax and the Los Angeles Dodgers, 1960-1963. Jefferson, ND: McFarland and Company, Inc., Publishers, 2015. Pp. 296. Bibliography, Notes, and 64 Photos. $29.95 paperback. Reviewed by Jorge Iber Even the most casual fan of American sports history is no doubt familiar with the name Sandy…
By Josh Howard It’s been nearly two years since I was asked to join the Sport in American History team as a co-editor. The site had been around for a bit over a year at that point and grown quickly. That growth continues. I – along with everyone else on the blog – am thrilled…
By Zachary R. Bigalke In the summer of 1986 Diego Maradona sealed an eternal place in Argentinian hearts, notching both the most revered and the most reviled goals in FIFA World Cup history in a 2-1 quarterfinal victory over England. “We were representing our dead who were sent to die by their own country,” Maradona…
By Cat Ariail The NBA season began with the dominance of the Golden State Warriors considered fait accompli. As the playoffs begin this Saturday, the Warriors seem poised to take the title they lost last year, with FiveThirtyEight giving them 59% title odds. Yet, in the interim, we witnessed an NBA season that featured an…
Sport in American History 