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Joe Louis's Battle for Freedom During World War II
by Randy Roberts
The boxing champion whose fight against the Nazis in and out of the ring made him a global icon.
During the 1930s and 1940s, no African American athlete commanded the spotlight more than heavyweight boxer Joe Louis. His 1938 knockout victory over German Max Schmeling struck an early blow against Nazi Germany. But it was Louis's service in the looming war that transformed him from a patriotic role model into history's first prominent Black athlete turned activist.
In The Fight of His Life, award-winning sports historians Johnny Smith and Randy Roberts tell the story of heavyweight champion Joe Louis's battles both in and out of the ring. Already world-famous at the outset of World War II, Louis enlisted in the army, serving as a goodwill ambassador and promoting unity across military bases that crackled with racial tension. Yet Louis's experience with segregation in the army sparked his political awakening. As the war dragged on, he advocated for Black soldiers facing discrimination. Once the war ended, he joined veterans and civil rights activists to fight for voting rights and racial equality.
Expertly revising the life story of one of America's most iconic Black athletes, Smith and Roberts's biography celebrates Joe Louis's forgotten fight against fascism abroad and racism at home.
"A groundbreaking look at a boxing champion's antidiscrimination efforts." —Kirkus Reviews
"A sharp, hard-hitting, beautifully written account of one of the greatest sports figures in all American history. The Fight of His Life is a book worthy of its subject—and when the subject is Joe Louis, that's a monumental achievement." ―Jonathan Eig, author of Ali: A Life and King: A Life, winner of the Pulitzer Prize
"Historians Johnny Smith and Randy Roberts have done it again, writing a remarkable book about an iconic American athlete. Joe Louis's battles within and beyond the boxing ring highlight the contradictions and complexities of our country during World War II. Louis inspired a generation of Americans and this page-turner brings his story to life for a new generation." ―Matthew F. Delmont, author of Half American
This information about The Fight of His Life was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Randy Roberts is the 150th Anniversary Distinguished Professor of History at Purdue University. He lives in Lafayette, Indiana.
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