People's History of Sports in the United States

<div><p><b>From the author Robert Lipsyte calls the best young sportswriter in America a rollicking rebellious myth-busting history of sports in America that puts politics in the ring with pop culture</b><br><br>In this long-waited book from the rising superstar of sportswriting whose blog <I>Edge of Sports</I> is read each week by thousands of people across the country Dave Zirin offers a riotously entertaining chronicle of larger-than-life sporting characters and dramatic contests and what amounts to an alternative history of the United States as seen through the games its people played. Through Zirin's eyes sports are never mere games but a reflection of-and spur toward-the political conflicts that shape American society.</p><p>Half a century before Jackie Robinson was born the black ballplayer Moses Fleetwood Walker brandished a revolver to keep racist fans at bay then took his regular place in the lineup. In the midst of the Depression when almost no black athletes were allowed on the U.S. Olympic team athletes held a Counter Olympics where a third of the participants were African American.</p><p><I>A People's History of Sports in the United States</I> is replete with surprises for seasoned sports fans while anyone interested in history will be amazed by the connections Zirin draws between politics and pop flies. As Jeff Chang author of <I>Can't Stop Won't Stop</I> puts it After you read him you'll never see sports the same way again.</p><BR></div>