The Greatest Fight of Our Generation Louis vs. Schmeling

The second Louis-Schmeling fight of 1938 sparked excitement around the globe. For all its length--the fight lasted just two minutes--it remains one of the most memorable events in boxing history and, indeed, one of the most significant sporting events ever. In this superb account, Lewis A. Erenberg offers a vivid portrait of Joe Louis, Max Schmeling, their individual careers, and their two epic fights, shedding light on what these fighters represented to their nations, and why their second bout took on such international importance. Erenberg shows how after Schmeling's dramatic win in his first fight with Lewis he instantly became a German national hero and an unwilling symbol for white supremacists, leading the second fight to be viewed by many as a symbolic match between Nazism and American democracy. Erenberg discusses how Louis' dramatic first-round victory was a devastating blow to Hitler, who turned on Schmeling and, during the war, had the boxer (then serving as a paratrooper) sent on a series of dangerous missions. Louis, meanwhile, went from being a hero of his race--"Our Joe"--to the first black champion embraced by all Americans. Here then is a stirring and insightful account of one of the great moments in boxing history, a confrontation that provided global theater on an epic scale.

Lewis A. Erenberg is Professor of History at Loyola University, Chicago. An authority on World War II and American culture, he has been on NPR, the Milt Rosenberg Show, and the Studs Terkel program and has been interviewed for articles in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Vanity Fair, and The Nation.