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The Fight of His Life (Joe Louis's Battle for Freedom During World War II)
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Product Details
Author:
Randy Roberts, Johnny Smith
Format:
Hardcover
Pages:
352
Publisher:
Basic Books (November 4, 2025)
Imprint:
Basic Books
Language:
English
Audience:
General/trade
ISBN-13:
9781541605060
ISBN-10:
1541605063
Weight:
20oz
Dimensions:
6.65" x 9.55" x 1.1875"
File:
hbgusa-hbgusa_onix30_P9412608_11242025-20251124.xml
Folder:
hbgusa
List Price:
$32.00
Pub Discount:
65
Case Pack:
20
As low as:
$24.64
Publisher Identifier:
P-HACH
Discount Code:
A
Country of Origin:
United States
Overview
The boxing champion whose fight against the Nazis in and out of the ring made him a global icon
“A sharp, hard-hitting, beautifully written account of one of the greatest sports figures in all American history.”―Jonathan Eig, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of King: A Life
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 sharp, hard-hitting, beautifully written account of one of the greatest sports figures in all American history.”―Jonathan Eig, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of King: A Life
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.
