Beyond Glory Max Schmeling vs Joe Louis

by David Margolick (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2005

  $4.48

  When they first met in the ring in 1936, Joe Louis was riding the crest of a wave and the German champion Max Schmeling was staging a desperately needed comeback. Schmeling had studied films of Louis' fights and knew his weak spots. Louis paid dearly, and while Schmeling regained his former glory and became the toast of Nazi Germany, Black America grieved. Two years later, the rematch was about more than a boxing title. In Schmeling's corner were Hitler and Goebbels, along with millions of Germans and Austrians for whom Schmeling symbolized not just national pride but Aryan supremacy, and some Americans who were still uncomfortable with a black man's pre-eminence in anything. In Louis' corner were almost the entire black community of the US, not to mention many in the Caribbean and Africa, the young Nelson Mandela among them. Alongside the blacks, were Jews everywhere, including those trapped in Hitler's Europe. And to a degree unprecedented in Jim Crow America there was a huge population of the white community, hoping that a black man would knock out a white man. This is the story of a momentous fight that was not only symbolic of the coming struggle against the Third Reich, but also of the first glimmering of the post-war move towards civil rights in the USA. David Margolick has written a classic of sporting and social history.

• Used

  Paperback
  2006

  $3.47

  In 1938, a match was to be fought between two rival boxers - Max Schmeling and Joe Louis. After his win in 1936 against Louis, Schmeling had become the toast of Nazi Germany and now in his corner were Hitler and Goebbels, along with millions of Germans for whom Schmeling symbolised not just national pride but Aryan supremacy. Joe Louis, the ferocious young black boxer, had in his corner almost the entire black community of the US, not to mention many in the Caribbean and Africa, the young Nelson Mandela among them. Alongside, the blacks were Jews everywhere, including those trapped in Hitler's Europe. And, to a degree unprecedented in 1930s America, there was a huge population of the white community who hoped that a black man would knock out a white man. Beyond Glory tells this classic story, which pulses with energy and captures the two fighters and the passions they aroused in a world that was about to change for ever.