Hornbaker, Tim. The Last Real World Champion: The Legacy of “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. Toronto: ECW Press, 2023. Pp. 392. $29.95 CAD paperback and e-book. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski Ric Flair has been involved in wrestling for over 50 years. Following his recent appearance on AEW Rampage, it seems that, as long as his body allows, he…
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J. Zonder In May 2022, tennis player Naomi Osaka returned to play at Roland Garros, where just a year earlier she had withdrawn from the tournament citing mental health reasons.…
Gitlin, Martin. Kyrie Irving: Uncle Drew, Little Mountain and Enigmatic NBA Superstar. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2019. Pp. 224. 16 illustrations. $26.95 hardcover and ebook. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski During a fall 2018 fan event at the TD Garden, the home of the Boston Celtics, former Celtics player Brian Scalabrine asked the best player on the team,…
Anderson, Sheldon. The Forgotten Legacy of Stella Walsh. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. Pp. 227. Notes, bibliography, and index. $38.00 USD hardback. Reviewed by Robert Pruter On December 4, 1980, in a Polish-American neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio, a 69 year old Polish immigrant woman–leaving a shop and returning to her car with red and…
Abramsky, Sasha. Little Wonder: The Fabulous Story of Lottie Dod, the World’s First Female Sports Superstar. Akashic Books, 2020. Pp. 280. Acknowledgments, end notes, introduction, photographs, $25.95 hardback. Reviewed by Bob D’Angelo. Sasha Abramsky is not a sports historian. He is a journalist who has spent the past 25 years writing about politics, covering social…
Steven Elliott Tripp, Ty Cobb, Baseball, and American Manhood. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016. Pp. xxii + 401. Photos, notes, select bibliography, and index. $29 paperback. Reviewed by Christopher R. Davis In the long and storied history of baseball, few individuals loom as large as Tyrus Raymond Cobb. Popular since his early playing days,…
Price, Asher. Earl Campbell: Yards After Contact. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2019. Pp. 344. 12 photos, notes, and index. $27.95 hardcover. Reviewed by Nicholas Evan Sarantakes It is difficult to explain how much Earl Campbell dominated American football in the late 1970s. For roughly three years, he was the player in the sport. In…
Beer, Jeremy. Oscar Charleston: The Life and Legend of Baseball’s Greatest Forgotten Player. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2019. Reviewed by Leslie Heaphy Author Jeremy Beer has written the first full biography of one of the greatest baseball players in history, Oscar Charleston. The story is long overdue, and Beer meets expectations, bringing to life…
Whitney-Wei, Jordan. Katharine Whitney Curtis: Mother of Synchronized Swimming. North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2020. Pp. 185. Notes, bibliography, and index. $39.95 paperback. Reviewed by Vicki Valosik In 1912, Katharine Curtis (nee Whitney) became the first woman to swim across Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin. Under the headline “Madison has a youthful Annette Kellerman,” a…
Sport in American History 