Which Book Should I Get?

:good [ame]http://www.amazon.com/First-Black-Boxing-Champions-Fighters/dp/0786449918/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top[/ame]

 

Liebling's The Sweet Science is a must own in my opinion.

Peter Heller's In This Corner has amazing value.

 

If you are going to get a Pollack book then get the Jeffries one because it also covers significant chunks of the careers of Corbett and Fitzsimmons.

The Pollack biographies end when the fighter in question looses the title, so the Jeffries book actualy covers some of the more interesting parts of Fitzsimmons and Corbetts careers.

 

I would definitely like to get a review on the Tom Sharkey and Bud Taylor biographies. So if you get either of those please let me know.

 

I am also wanting to know if the sharkey book is good. I have the taylor book but haven't read it yet.

 

Heard there is a new book out on Ketchel that is a good read.

 

My favs have been Randy Robert's "Jack Dempsey, The Mannassa Mauler" and "Papa Jack". Just unbelieveably great. I have hundreds of boxing books and those still stand out as best. Also Skehan's "Rocky Marciano, Biography of a First Son". All three books give you the feel of the times and put you in the audience for the fights. And in the Robert's book, you see two great rises of interesting champs. I have 6 books on Dempsey, bios and auto bios and 3 on Johnson and these to dwarf ALL the others on these 2 great fighters. Roberts was and is a prof in college, so both books are expertly researched and are critical bios. you can get them on Amazon used and save money too.

 

I have auto bios by walker but always wanted to read "Somebody Up The Likes Me" but never could find it. I have a terrific book on "Bartley Gorman; King of the Gypsys" by Bartley himself. He was a bareknuckle champion in Britain from around 1970-the 1990s and is an UNBELIEVEABLE true autobio written by him before his death in 2002. It tells of the tough gypsy fighting noholdsbarred ba:goodreknucklers of the past 40 years and Bartleys rise and fights. Get it and you will be VERY pleased.

 

Just reading Sharkey's book. Nicely written and well researched and presented. Not much new in in for me but I had done a lot of research on Tom myself, so a little disappointing on that score but in fairness I'm not sure what I could have expected. All of Pollocks books are good with the only drawbacks that, as stated, they end when the champ loses and the writing is a a little "dry". I intend to get the Hart one soon (I have a soft spot for Marvin).
I suggest Leo Militich's book "Dan Stuart's fistic carnival" on the Langtry fight because it is very factual yet witty and well written, maybe my favorite book. Clay Moyle's book on Langford is good as is another of my favs "The Sundowners"
Oh and a certain "The Irish Champion"......

 

How about that new Ketchel book? Heard it's great...

 

Sports Illustrated has it the number one sports book of the 20th century and Modern Library has it in the top 100 nonfiction books of the 20th century. I'll assume you have Liebling's Neutral Corner as well.

Fried's Corner Men is great. I also happened to like Cavanaugh's Tunney and I loved Unforgivable Blackness.

 

Good stuff. I think Moyle's Langford book is pretty well done as well and I'm reading Otty's Burley book, both paint a good picture of the fighters as subjects and the general era of the sport.