Beyond the Ring: THE ROLE OF BOXING IN AMERICAN SOCIETY (Sport and Society)
Sammons, a history and Afro-American studies scholar, presents a social history of boxing in America. He weaves the contributions of John L. Sullivan, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Jack Johnson, etc.mostly heavyweightsinto an account of a sport blighted by brutality, racial prejudice, corruption, and criminal exploitation. Though the author's overemphasis on black Civil Rights gives short shrift to the struggles of other ethnic strains to rise through boxing, this is a well-presented, appealing narrative that merits comparison with Joyce Carol Oates's less detailed On Boxing ( LJ 1/87). For college and large public libraries.Morey Berger, Monmouth Cty. Lib., Manalapan, N.J.Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.