From School Library Journal
Grade 8 Up-This three-volume reference source on the history of black atheletes, first published in 1988, has been revised to include current events and people. Volume one covers 1619-1918; volume two 1919-1945; and volume three 1946 to the present. It's an imposing piece of work, for it took 10 years of meticulous research to chase down rumors, check facts, and investigate each slim lead. Hundreds of athletes came to light, such as George Poage, the first black to win an Olympic medal; and Marshall Taylor, world cycling champion of 1899. The format is the same for all three volumes, and the contents are easily accessible. There are chapters on each major sport, and historical information is presented from the African-American viewpoint within each one. Key players, teams, and events are featured in chronological order. Analyses of the sports and the players, and interpretations of their influence on American life, are nicely presented. A brief summation of the material concludes this overview. A large section in each volume has statistics of teams, individual players, and awards given; unfortunately, the set isn't well indexed. For those who have the earlier edition, there is not enough current information here to justify the cost of updating. However, this is definitely a worthwhile addition to any collection for those who don't.Pat Royal, Crossland High School, Camp Springs, MDCopyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Book News, Inc.
A Hard Road to Glory, a three-volume work now revised and updated from its original publication in 1988 by Warner Books, is an authoritative treatment of the history of Black athletes in the US, presented within the context of American social and cultural life. It's also the enduring legacy of the late tennis star, Arthur Ashe (1943-1993), who realized that a vast amount of material existed on the participation of Blacks in athletics in this country, but that it had never been collected, organized, and presented in historical context, analyzed, and interpreted. Each volume is thoroughly illustrated with multiple glossy inserts. The work lacks a set ISBN. Distributed by Penguin USA. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.
Book Description
Boxing has given the African-American athlete an opportunity to catch the national imagination through physical prowess. The earlier boxers, such as Jack Johnson and Joe Louis, stood as symbols of black equality if not superiority. Even before Johnson there were super black boxers. This book tells their stories and looks at their records. The text and reference materials for this book were taken from the three-volume set, A Hard Road to Glory,and combined into this single volume.
About the Author
Arthur Ashe was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1943, and died in New York City on February 6, 1993. In his twenty-year tennis career Ashe won some of the most coveted singles championship games; Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and the World Cup Team Finals. He was a member of the U.S. Davis Cup Team from 1963 to 1970, and in 1975, 1976, and 1978; as its captain, he led the team to victories in 1981 and 1982. He was a member of the U.S. World Cup Team from 1970 to 1976, and in 1979.On April 16, 1980, after quadruple bypass surgury, Arthur Ashe retired from professional tennis. He became National Campaign Chairman for the American Heart Association and the only nonmedical member of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Advisory Council.He contracted the HIV virus from a blood transfusion after a second bypass operation in 1983. Upon discovering this, Ashe exhibited his perennial quality of action without acrimony and founded the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS, He succumbed to the disease in February 1993.Ashe was married to professional photographer Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, the author of Viewifnders: Black Women Photographers. They lived in New York City with their daughter, Camera.
A Hard Road to Glory: Boxing: The African-American Athlete in Boxing
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Boxing has given the African-American athlete an opportunity to catch the national imagination through physical prowess. The earlier boxers, such as Jack Johnson and Joe Louis, stood as symbols of black equality if not superiority. Even before Johnson there were super black boxers. This book tells their stories and looks at their records. The text and reference materials for this book were taken from the three-volume set, A Hard Road to Glory,and combined into this single volume.
FROM THE CRITICS
Sacred Fire
A Hard Road to Glory is, in three volumes, the definitive history of black athletics in America. A work of monumental importance to African American history, it traces the development of African American athletes from Africa in the seventeenth century to today. The book took Ashe over six years to compile, requiring the assistance of a professional research staff and the advice of several world-famous scholars. So committed was Ashe to this project that the majority of the staggering costs of research came out of his own pocket. The book that was ultimately produced puts the iconic image of the African American athlete back into the context of black cultural and social life over the centuries.
"The 1920s was known as the 'Golden Decade of Sports'... Of course it should have been more appropriately called 'The Golden Decade of (White) Sports,' for black athletes were shut out of major league baseball, eased out of professional football, not allowed to join a fledgling professional basketball league, barred from Forest Hills in tennis, and unlawfully kept out of contention for the heavyweight boxing crown."
Ashe thought that by drawing attention to the historical barring of blacks from the opportunities available through professional sports, he could help aspiring black sports enthusiasts. "Today, thousands of young African Americans continue to see their places in the sun through athletics. . . . Perhaps this history
will ease the journey with sober reflections of how difficult and improbable the hard road really is."
In his twenty-year tennis career, Ashe won some of the most coveted tennis championships in the game. An eloquent statesman and gifted writer, he was also the author of Off the Court and Days of Grace.
Art & Photography
Book Info
