Being an account of the panicked scramble to groom a white heavyweight who could redeem the championship from the flamboyant black man, Jack Johnson, who won it in the ragtime era. This is a well-researched journey through a period which is very interesting sociologically. Unfortunately, the author doesn't go very deeply into the wider attitudes of society as a whole, but mostly tells the stories of the boxers and, especially, the managers and promoters involved. As a result, the book is a trifle disjointed and its interest level varies with how interesting the subject of each vignette is; some are quite interesting, many are not. ( )