Thursday 20 September 2018

The Cambridge Companion to Boxing is to be Published Later this Year


The Cambridge Companion to Boxing is due to be published at the end of this year and I have contributed the following chapters to the project:

     ‘The Africans: Boxing and Africa’
     ‘Jose Torres: The Boxer as Writer’

Description

While humans have used their hands to engage in combat since the dawn of man, boxing originated in Ancient Greece as an Olympic event. It is one of the most popular, controversial and misunderstood sports in the world. For its advocates, it is a heroic expression of unfettered individualism. For its critics, it is a depraved and ruthless physical and commercial exploitation of mostly poor young men. This Companion offers engaging and informative essays about the social impact and historical importance of the sport, listing all the important events and personalities. Essays examine topics such as women in boxing, boxing and the rise of television, boxing in Africa, boxing and literature, and boxing and Hollywood films. A unique book for scholars and fans alike, this Companion explores the sport from its inception in Ancient Greece to the death of its most celebrated figure, Muhammad Ali.

Editor

Gerald Early, Professor of English and African-American Studies at Washington University, St. Louis. He has written about boxing since the early 1980s. His book, the Culture of Bruising (1994) won the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism. He also edited the The Muhammad Ali Reader (1998) and Body Language: Writers (1998). His essays have appeared several times in the Best American Essays series.

Contributors

Byron J. Nakamura, Elliot J. Gorn, Adam Chill, Louis Moore, Colleen Aycock, Carlo Rotella, Troy Rondinone, Adeyinka Makinde, Benita Heiskanen, Cathy van Ingen, Steven A, Reiss, Tony Gee, Randy Roberts, Wil Haygood, Lewis Erenberg, Michael Ezra, Mark Scott, Kasia Boddy, Scott D. Emmer, Leger Grindon, Rebecca Wanzo, Benjamin Cawthra, Rosalind Early, Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Gerald Early.

Table of Contents

1. Boxing in the Ancient World by Byron J. Nakaruma
2. The Bare-Knuckle Era by Elliot J. Gorn
3. Jem Mace and the Making of Modern Boxing by Adam Chill
4.  Race and Boxing in the Nineteenth Century by Louis Moore
5. Joe Gans and his Contemporaries: The Contest for Supremacy in the Queensberry Realm by Colleen Aycock
6. Dempsey-Tunney, Tunney-Greb, and the 1920s by Carlo Rotella
7. Prime Time and Crime Time: Boxing in the 1950s by Troy Rondinone
8. The Africans: Boxing and Africa by Adeyinka Makinde
9. A Century of Fighting Latinos: From the Margins to the Mainstream by Benita Heiskanen
10. Women’s Boxing: Bout Time by Cathy van Ingen
11. Jews in Twentieth-Century Boxing by Steven A. Reiss
12. A Surprising Dearth of Top English-born Jewish Fighters in the Bare-Knuckle Era by Tony Gee
13. Joe Louis: ‘You Should Have Seen Him Then’ by Randy Roberts
14. The Furious Beauty of Sugar Ray by Wil Haygood
15. Echoes from the Jungle: Muhammad Ali in the Early 70s by Lewis Erenberg
16. The Unusable Champions: Sonny Liston (1962-1964) and Larry Holmes (1978-1985) by Michael Ezra
17. Emile Griffith: An Underrated Champion by Mark Scott
18. Pierce Egan, Boxing, and British Nationalism by Adam Chill
19. Jose Torres: The Boxer as Writer by Adeyinka Makinde
20. ‘Well, What was it really Like?’ George Plimpton, Norman Mailer, and the Heavyweights by Kasia Boddy
21. Jack London and the Great White Hopes of Boxing Literature by Scott D. Emmer
22. Body and Soul of the Screen Boxer by Leger Grindon
23. Black Slaver: Jack Johnson and the Mann Act by Rebecca Wanzo
24. Yesternow: Jack Johnson, Documentary Film, and the Politics of Jazz by Benjamin Cawthra
25. Opera for Boxers by Rosalind Early
26. The Voice of Boxing: A Brief History of American Broadcasting Ringside by Colleen Aycock
27. Ralph Wiley’s Surprising Serenity by Shelley Fisher Fishkin
28. Muhammad Ali, King of the Inauthentic by Gerald Early

Book Details

Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Hardback: ISBN 978-1-107-05801-9
Paperback: ISBN 978-1-107-63120-5
Price: £69.99 (Hardback)/£24.99 (Paperback)

Mission

Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence.



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