Gerald Early is Professor of English and African American Studies at Washington University, St Louis. He has written about boxing since the early 1980s. His book, The Culture of Bruising (1994), won the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism. He also edited The Muhammad Ali Reader (1998) and Body Language: Writers on Sports (1998). His essays have appeared several times in the Best American Essays series.

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• 1. Boxing in the ancient world Byron J. Nakamura; 2. The bare-knuckle era Elliott J. Gorn; 3. Jem Mace and the making of modern boxing Adam Chill; 4. Race and boxing in the nineteenth century Louis Moore; 5. Joe Gans and his contemporaries: the contest for supremacy in the Queensberry realm Colleen Aycock; 6. Dempsey-Tunney, Tunney-Greb, and the 1920s Carlo Rotella; 7. Prime time and crime time: boxing in the 1950s Troy Rondinone; 8. The Africans: boxing and Africa Adeyinka Makinde; 9. A century of fighting Latinos: from the margins to the mainstream Benita Heiskanen; 10. Women's boxing: bout time Cathy van Ingen; 11. Jews in twentieth-century boxing Steven A. Riess; 12. A surprising dearth of top English-born Jewish fighters in the bare-knuckle era Tony Gee; 13. Joe Louis: 'you should have seen him then' Randy Roberts; 14. The furious beauty of Sugar Ray Wil Haygood; 15. Echoes from the jungle: Muhammad Ali in the early 70s Lewis Erenberg; 16. The unusable champions: Sonny Liston (1962–64) and Larry Holmes (1978–85) Michael Ezra; 17. Emile Griffith: an underrated champion Mark Scott; 18. Pierce Egan, boxing, and British nationalism Adam Chill; 19. Jose Torres: the boxer as writer Adeyinka Makinde; 20. 'Well, what was it really like?' George Plimpton, Norman Mailer, and the heavyweights Kasia Boddy; 21. Jack London and the great white hopes of boxing literature Scott D. Emmer; 22. Body and soul of the screen boxer Leger Grindon; 23. Black Slaver: Jack Johnson and the Mann Act Rebecca Wanzo; 24. Yesternow: Jack Johnson, documentary film, and the politics of jazz Benjamin Cawthra; 25. Opera for boxers Rosalind Early; 26. The voice of boxing: a brief history of American broadcasting ringside Colleen Aycock; 27. Ralph Wiley's surprising serenity Shelley Fisher Fishkin; 28. Muhammad Ali, king of the inauthentic Gerald Early.

Gerald Early is Professor of English and African American Studies at Washington University, St Louis. He has written about boxing since the early 1980s. His book, The Culture of Bruising (1994), won the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism. He also edited The Muhammad Ali Reader (1998) and Body Language: Writers on Sports (1998). His essays have appeared several times in the Best American Essays series.

Select Guide Rating

• 1. Boxing in the ancient world Byron J. Nakamura; 2. The bare-knuckle era Elliott J. Gorn; 3. Jem Mace and the making of modern boxing Adam Chill; 4. Race and boxing in the nineteenth century Louis Moore; 5. Joe Gans and his contemporaries: the contest for supremacy in the Queensberry realm Colleen Aycock; 6. Dempsey-Tunney, Tunney-Greb, and the 1920s Carlo Rotella; 7. Prime time and crime time: boxing in the 1950s Troy Rondinone; 8. The Africans: boxing and Africa Adeyinka Makinde; 9. A century of fighting Latinos: from the margins to the mainstream Benita Heiskanen; 10. Women's boxing: bout time Cathy van Ingen; 11. Jews in twentieth-century boxing Steven A. Riess; 12. A surprising dearth of top English-born Jewish fighters in the bare-knuckle era Tony Gee; 13. Joe Louis: 'you should have seen him then' Randy Roberts; 14. The furious beauty of Sugar Ray Wil Haygood; 15. Echoes from the jungle: Muhammad Ali in the early 70s Lewis Erenberg; 16. The unusable champions: Sonny Liston (1962–64) and Larry Holmes (1978–85) Michael Ezra; 17. Emile Griffith: an underrated champion Mark Scott; 18. Pierce Egan, boxing, and British nationalism Adam Chill; 19. Jose Torres: the boxer as writer Adeyinka Makinde; 20. 'Well, what was it really like?' George Plimpton, Norman Mailer, and the heavyweights Kasia Boddy; 21. Jack London and the great white hopes of boxing literature Scott D. Emmer; 22. Body and soul of the screen boxer Leger Grindon; 23. Black Slaver: Jack Johnson and the Mann Act Rebecca Wanzo; 24. Yesternow: Jack Johnson, documentary film, and the politics of jazz Benjamin Cawthra; 25. Opera for boxers Rosalind Early; 26. The voice of boxing: a brief history of American broadcasting ringside Colleen Aycock; 27. Ralph Wiley's surprising serenity Shelley Fisher Fishkin; 28. Muhammad Ali, king of the inauthentic Gerald Early.