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kristi_starr35 's review for:
Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team
by Steve Sheinkin
Another winner from Steve Sheinkin. The author of Bomb: The race to build and steal the world's most dangerous weapon, The Port Chicago 50 : Disaster, mutiny, and the fight for civil rights, Lincoln's grave robbers, and Most dangerous : Daniel Ellsberg and the secret history of the Vietnam War is back as he delves into the history and oppression of Native Americans in the late 19th and early 20th century. It's equally the story of the earliest days of college football. The reader is introduced to the Carlisle Indian School and how it fits squarely into national and athletic history.
The reader will also meet the most well-known figures in Carlisle history - a coach known to millions of football-playing youngsters around the country and a man considered by sports writers to be the best athlete and the greatest American football player of the first half of the 20th century. These men, Glenn "Pop" Warner and Jim Thorpe, are legendary, and together they created an early collegiate football powerhouse at a school that exists only as a footnote in history.
Sheinkin, as usual, provides an engaging narrative and regales the reader with a multifaceted story. But what the author does best is to bring history into the present. Sure, facts about the early days of football and Thorpe's and Warner's accomplishments are fascinating and comprise a great story on their own, but Sheinkin resurrects the stories of Native Americans and the racism they faced - in many cases, the attempted erasure of Native American culture - and makes the reader consider how much - if at all - things have changed.
I don't know the person or event that will be Sheinkin's next focus, but I guarantee you that I'll be quick to read it, purchase it, and promote it among my students.
The reader will also meet the most well-known figures in Carlisle history - a coach known to millions of football-playing youngsters around the country and a man considered by sports writers to be the best athlete and the greatest American football player of the first half of the 20th century. These men, Glenn "Pop" Warner and Jim Thorpe, are legendary, and together they created an early collegiate football powerhouse at a school that exists only as a footnote in history.
Sheinkin, as usual, provides an engaging narrative and regales the reader with a multifaceted story. But what the author does best is to bring history into the present. Sure, facts about the early days of football and Thorpe's and Warner's accomplishments are fascinating and comprise a great story on their own, but Sheinkin resurrects the stories of Native Americans and the racism they faced - in many cases, the attempted erasure of Native American culture - and makes the reader consider how much - if at all - things have changed.
I don't know the person or event that will be Sheinkin's next focus, but I guarantee you that I'll be quick to read it, purchase it, and promote it among my students.