War in the Ring: Joe Louis, Max Schmeling, and the Fight Between America and Hitler

Florio and Shapiro (One Nation Under Baseball) vividly recount the politically and racially charged rivalry between African-American boxing champion Joe Louis and white German boxer Max Schmeling, which grew between their 1936 and 1938 matches. Tracing both men’s careers from inception until they hung up their gloves, the authors illuminate how emblematic each was to his country while exploring the social issues of the day. Born to an Alabama sharecropper, Louis turned professional at age 20. His success in a white-controlled sport made him both famous and “a symbol of the struggle... for emancipation.” Also from humble roots, Schmeling hoped to retake the world heavyweight title he had lost in 1932. His pummeling of the hitherto-undefeated Louis in 1936 sealed his reputation as a star in Nazi Germany—and ensured that Americans were even more inclined to root for Louis at the boxers’ 1938 rematch. Louis’s triumph launched his record 12-year hold on the world heavyweight title. The authors end this sympathetic joint portrait by contrasting the men at their later “civilian” encounters: Louis in the U.S. with tax and health problems and a fit, prosperous Schmeling in Germany. Photos, source notes, bibliography, and an index supplement the text. Ages 10–14. (May)