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For much of the twentieth century, boxing was one of America's most
popular sports, and the heavyweight champions were figures known to
all. Their exploits were reported regularly in the newspapers-often
outside the sports pages-and their fame and wealth dwarfed those of
other athletes. Long after their heyday, these icons continue to be
synonymous with the "sweet science." In The Boxing Kings: When
American Heavyweights Ruled the Ring, Paul Beston profiles these
larger-than-life men who held a central place in American culture.
Among the figures covered are John L. Sullivan, who made the
heavyweight championship a commercial property; Jack Johnson, who
became the first black man to claim the title; Jack Dempsey, a
sporting symbol of the Roaring Twenties; Joe Louis, whose
contributions to racial tolerance and social progress transcended
even his greatness in the ring; Rocky Marciano, who became an
embodiment of the American Dream; Muhammad Ali, who took on the
U.S. government and revolutionized professional sports with his
showmanship; and Mike Tyson, a hard-punching dynamo who typified
the modern celebrity. This gallery of flawed but sympathetic men
also includes comics, dandies, bookworms, divas, ex-cons,
workingmen, and even a tough-guy-turned-preacher. As the
heavyweight title passed from one claimant to another, their
stories opened a window into the larger history of the United
States. Boxing fans, sports historians, and those interested in
U.S. race relations as it intersects with sports will find this
book a fascinating exploration into how engrained boxing once was
in America's social and cultural fabric.
Warfare was only one form of the violence that had a profound
impact on Archaic and Classical Greek society, literature and
government. This important series of thirteen papers, from a
seminar held in London in 1998, places private and public conflict
within its wider context. The papers are divided into five
sections: causes of war, forms of violence within the polis, beyond
the classical phalanx, war and rebellion, and continuities in
Hellenistic warfare. Chapters describe social violence, as in
Sparta, full-scale warfare on land and at sea, the representation
of warfare in Greek epic and Hellenistic military leadership.
Papers also examine the practicalities of Greek warfare, such as
the use of deception as a tactic, and the significant influence of
religion in warfare, including sacrifices before a battle and the
role of Athena, who symbolised everything that the Greeks thought
good about war. Contributors: J E Lendon, Jonathan Shay, Simon
Hornblower, Nick Fisher, Hans van Wees, Peter Krentz, Victor Davis
Hanson, Louis Rawlings, Barry S Strauss, Susan Deacy, Robert
Parker, Paul Beston and John Ma.
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