Boxing Book Reviews

First topic message reminder :

Mentioned this on a thread the other day that it would be nice if posters who enjoyed reading about the sport could post reviews of books they have read be they positive or negative and hopefully we will be able to build up a decent library of reviews we can use to inform future purchases. As someone who buys a lot of books I will offer a couple to get the ball rolling and hopefully a few others can follow suit, here’s hoping it catches on.

Sam Langford – Boxing’s greatest uncrowned champion – Clay Moyle

Before reading Moyle’s book I’ll be honest my knowledge of Langford was limited. Often saw his name and achievements spoken of with hushed reverence on various websites but probably always harboured the suspicion he was one of those names people throw out to look cool and knowledgeable, like Harry Greb who we now all know did not actually exist. However on the back of reading this outstanding book about Sam I am absolutely convinced he deserves every bit of the esteem he is often afforded. For those unfamiliar with Sam’s story although he stood little more than 5ft 7 he fought anyone and everyone between the lightweight and heavy and his record reads as a who’s who of the era containing as it does names like Gans, Walcott, Ketchel and Johnson as long as multiple battles at heavy with guys like Jeannette, Wills and McVea, despite the fact all of these last few guys held significant size and weight advantages over him.

Moyle has done a truly outstanding job in telling Sam’s story. In my experience of reading a lot about the old timers one of the common pitfalls authors fall into is, through the sheer volume of fights these guys had is writing books that read as little more than lists. The great strength of this book is Moyle avoids the text becoming too dry by offering a flavour of Sam’s personality outside the ring and serving up some genuinely amusing anecdotes which serve to portray Sam as a genuinely likeable guy, which only serves to make his failure to secure the title shots his talent surely deserved all the more heartbreaking.

Moyle covers all the major fights and rivalries in Sam’s life such as Gans, Walcott and Ketchel in admirable detail and provides valuable background to these fights which gives the fights a context otherwise lacking from the raw results. Moyle also gives detailed coverage and analysis of Sam’s long running but ultimately futile attempts to secure a title shot with heavyweight champion Jack Johnson which, for me certainly provided me with a fresh perspective on why this fight failed to come off.

I really cannot recommend Clay’s book highly enough; it is superbly written, well illustrated and exhaustively researched. For anyone with an interest in old time fighters or just wanting to know more about one of the most remarkable fighters to ever step through the ropes Moyle’s book is nigh on essential.

The Life and Crimes of Don King – Jack Newfield

As one of the most colourful and larger than life characters to ever (dis)grace the sport of boxing it is almost impossible to not have an opinion on Don King. He has led a life that truly deserves the tagline that you could not make it up. Don started out as a numbers czar in his native Cleveland before killing a man who owed him money, a crime he was jailed for. On his release Don, through his friendship with musician Lloyd Price, gained an introduction to Muhammad Ali and within a matter of years he had risen from freshly released convict to the premier boxing promoter in the world.

Whilst Don’s rise to prominence was truly remarkable, some of the measures he took to achieve this rise were equally as remarkable and in telling the story of that rise Newfield does not shy away from showing Don’s not inconsiderable dark side it all its questionable glory. It is all here, his ripping off of Holmes, his rigged ABC tournament, his under the table deals with Apartheid era South Africa, his exploitation of Mike Tyson and his part in putting together some of the biggest matches in boxing history.

Despite all the gory details of Don’s less than ethical business practices Newfield balances this with being willing to give credit where it is due. He acknowledges that few, if any can out negotiate or out work Don and when one considers Don listened to the first Ali Frazier fight in prison and co-promoted the third you cannot help but agree that whatever his myriad faults Don is obviously a truly remarkable promoter, and it would be naive and not more than a little inaccurate to suggest that prior to King’s emergence boxing was free from corruption as quite clearly it wasn’t.

Overall for anyone with a history in the heavyweight division of the last 40 years or who has asked themselves the question “why do so many great fighters end up skint?” Newfield’s book should serve to offer up some answers. Don, perhaps inevitably does not come out of it smelling of roses but is still a fascinating portrait of a fascinating character.

I have already read the manuscript of the Walcott book and heartily endorse it. Jim has done a very nice job on it.

Sure you can't persuade him to forward the manuscript onto me Clay, a positive pre-emptive review on here could well be the difference between success and failure for the book.

No doubt Send me a PM with your ship-to details and I'll pass it along.

Awesome, thanks for this, already done mate.

Just looked online for the "Fearless Harry Greb" book.

Why on earth is it so expensive!!!

Sir. badgerhands wrote:Just looked online for the "Fearless Harry Greb" book.

Why on earth is it so expensive!!!

Time/Sales=Big number.

Sir. badgerhands wrote:Just looked online for the "Fearless Harry Greb" book.

Why on earth is it so expensive!!!

Small publisher and would imagine pretty low sales mate. Have bought a few McFarland books and they are all pretty expensive, if it softens the blow any they are all really well presented and I am yet to read a bad book they have published.

rowley wrote:

Sir. badgerhands wrote:Just looked online for the "Fearless Harry Greb" book.

Why on earth is it so expensive!!!

Small publisher and would imagine pretty low sales mate. Have bought a few McFarland books and they are all pretty expensive, if it softens the blow any they are all really well presented and I am yet to read a bad book they have published.

Well birthday this month so looks like the wife is going to be purchasing for me.

Quite fancy the Sam Langford one also.

Badger have read them both and they are both outstanding, so am sure you'll enjoy them. The Langford one looks to have come down in prive the last time I looked so is definitely worth getting hold of mate.

This probably should have been dropped at the ' book reviews ' thread in the vault but, given that the review is not my own, and given, also, that Carnera is such a mysterious and sometimes misunderstood figure, I thought it might be appropriate to let it have a day or so in the general section before transferring it to its proper home.

Here's the link :

http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/BookReview-PrimoCarnera-JosephSPage.htm

Saw this review Windy and is a book I fancy, have read a few books on Louis recently and find it fascinating opinion on Carnera still differs wildly as to whether he was a mob creation or was actually a little better than he is given credit for depending on who is writing it. At the minute I am probably more in the latter camp but do think he warrants further reading.

You probably know, jeff, that Carnera was the betting favourite for the Louis fight, and Louis himself expressed concern for Primo's jab. Granted, it was Louis' big time debut, but nevertheless it is indicative that some were taking Carnera pretty seriously once he had actually learned to fight and had ceased to be a circus side show.

If you haven't done so already, try to find the complete Carnera v Baer fight. It's astonishing that, despite all the knockdowns, Carnera made a very decent fight of it during the middle stages. Fair to say that Max often went walkabout during a fight, but it still suggests a dogged determination and a lot of guts from Carnera.

I suspect that, as is often the case, the truth about Carnera lies between the extremes.

Patrick Myler makes a particularly spirited argument for Carnera being a little better than often portrayed in his excellent book Ring of Hate argues that nobody devoid of ability could outbox Tommy Loughran as Carnera did for large parts of their fight, and a lot of the rumours of fixed fights was started by a disgruntled former manager whose services were dispensed of. Am by no means suggesting Carnera will be troubling top tens soon but do feel he perhaps gets a rough ride.

Exactly how I see it, jeff.

The film ' The Harder They Fall ' is loosely based on Carnera, and it depicts a man who was the beneficiary of fixes early on but who, behind the scenes, was working his socks off to learn to fight, eventually becoming ' legitimate.' This account echoes one or two others which I have read from seasoned journalists.

Makes the book even more attractive, I would say.

Apparently Steve Compton’s book on Greb is showing good progress, deciding whether to publish as 2 volumes or 1.

http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/cyber.htm

Some must read books in there

Odered the Tommy Burns book yesterday, have read the rest of the series so really looking forward to that one. Am also in the process of getting the Uncrowned Champions book but is proving a right royal pain because it is not available over here but hopefully have got it sorted.

In the Ring with Tommy Burns – Adam J Pollack

As anyone who has followed this thread, and I do delude myself that hopefully somebody does, will know my enthusiasm and praise for Adam Pollack’s series of books on the early heavyweight champions virtually knows no bounds and although I reviewed the series en masse earlier on the thread I am going to review the latest in the series in the hope it will persuade anyone who has not yet dipped their toes in and bought any of these books to do so.

Anyone who has purchased any of the previous books in the series will know what to expect by now and the latest on Burns does not buck the trend or let standards slip, each of his major fights is covered in exhaustive detail with round by round reports drawing on numerous first hand newspaper reports. What makes this book perhaps more interesting than some of its predecessors is the fact that in Burns we are dealing with a fighter for whom there is still decent footage remaining of many of the fights under analysis so comparison can be made between the footage we have and how the fights were reported in their immediate aftermath.

What I also found interesting in this book is Pollack’s analysis of how the title picture in the wake of Jeffries retirement was dealt with, as I touched on in my Hart thread the other day it does appear confusion seems to have reigned with many refusing to acknowledge Hart as champion, many arguing the title should revert back to Fitzsimmons and some, oddly enough still acknowledging Jeffries as champion. Pollack does an admirable job of summarising the attitudes at the time and also helping to make sense of the confusion giving the picture that Burns and to an extent Hart did seem to have suffered somewhat from the sheer dominance and esteem that typified the Jeffries reign.

As will come as a shock to nobody I am wholeheartedly recommending this book as I recommend the rest of the series and for those that are a fan of the series Adam has confirmed he is going to do the Johnson book which is obviously next in line which should be absolutely outstanding.

You going to start forwarding the Pollack books to me after you've read them?

Great stuff, jeff. Thanks for this.

I plan to collect these ( an expensive venture, though, ) but I believe I mentioned elsewhere in this thread that I might be tempted to skip the Burns one and go straight from Jeffries to the expected Johnson volume.

Best compliment I can pay you is to say that you've persuaded me otherwise.

I'm sure my wife will be delighted.

Agree about the expense Windy, would have liked to have thought my constant and unwavering promotion and support of the series would have seen a free copy finding its way to me but alas not.

Rowley where do you get the books from? I can only find them in the states and with shipping as well it soon mounts up

Got most of the Pollack ones on Amazon.co.uk, they are not cheap but with the exception of the Corbett one are all still on there I believe

So they are cheers mate.

Time to dip my toes back in the review section!

Have just finished reading 'Jacobs Beach' by the ever-reliable Kevin Mitchell. The book spans the eras between World War Two and the present day, but in particular focuses on the forties and fifties and the influence of the Mob in boxing during those decades.

The book is particularly focused on Madison Sqare Garden and the surrounding area, hence the name 'Jacobs Beach' which was given to the are in the days when Mike Jacobs was the Garden's top matchmaker. Mitchell goes to great lengths to demonstrate how the power started with Jimmy Johnston, but eventually shifted to Jacobs, who fell under the blanket of Owney Madden, Frankie Carbo, Frank Costello, Blinkey Palermo and the like. In particular, I was very intrigued in the case of Truman Gibson, the man who started out as a human rights lawyer for black men drafted in to the US Army. His story of starting out in the pursuit of noble causes in defending the likes of Joe Louis and Jackie Robinson, to eventually selling his sole for a slice of the Garden and Terry Norris' IBC before falling back in to obscurity, really is an interesting one.

I was pleasantly surprised at how many sources Mitchell has consulted for the book; the obvious names are there such as the older stalwarts who were there and still live to tell the tales; Lou Duva, Jake La Motta, Budd Schulberg etc. But there are also telling stories from more obscure names such as Al Certo and LeRoy Neiman, all of whom offer some really insight in to the Garden, the Mob and their ways in the forties and fifties. The book is also a fantastic reference point for how television revolutionised, but also in a sense helped to hinder the sport, too.

Can't fault the book at all, to be honest. Learned a few things about even well-known fighter which I was oblivious to, and the detail which Mitchell goes in to means that, even with so many characters and notorious names all over the place, it's easy to see exactly who was responsible for which particular event in the Garden's history. Excellent book which I really enjoyed, and would definitely recommend to anyone. Think it will inspire a couple of articles out of me, too!

Cheers Chris, have had my eye on this one for a while but wasn't wanting to chance it, will be sure to pick it up.

Cheers Chris have actually got a copy of Jacob's Beach and have never got round to reading it, will give it a crack based on your review.

Last weekend I got a copy of "Ring of Hate" by Patrick Myler from Poundland in Coventry! Only started reading it last night but it's a great read so far (ok not a book review as such but will come back and write a proper one when I'm finished).

quentins_monkey wrote:Last weekend I got a copy of "Ring of Hate" by Patrick Myler from Poundland in Coventry! Only started reading it last night but it's a great read so far (ok not a book review as such but will come back and write a proper one when I'm finished).

Have read that Quentin, agree it is a cracking book, very interesting subject. There are a few books on the Louis Schmeling fight and having read a good number Myler's is the best, the others tend to be a bit academic and edge towards the pretenscious.

rowley wrote:

quentins_monkey wrote:Last weekend I got a copy of "Ring of Hate" by Patrick Myler from Poundland in Coventry! Only started reading it last night but it's a great read so far (ok not a book review as such but will come back and write a proper one when I'm finished).

Have read that Quentin, agree it is a cracking book, very interesting subject. There are a few books on the Louis Schmeling fight and having read a good number Myler's is the best, the others tend to be a bit academic and edge towards the pretenscious.

Really enjoying it so far - I'm the first to admit my knowledge of the older fights is incredibly limited, but reading through the articles on here made me want to go and find out more about the history of the sport, so when I spotted this on the shelf thought it was definitely worth a quid...

Have you read any of the other books he's written?

Have read his biography of Jame Corbett, that is excellent as well although think it is out of print now so a little pricey, but worth a read if you can get hold of it for a sensible price.

I got a copy of Errol Christies autobiography for my birthday (Bonfire night, by the way. I may of mentioned it once or twice but got nothing from any of you, not even a "many happy returns").

When I get round to reading it I will post a review. It looks very good, the bits I have skimmed through anyway. Really looking forward to reading about the whole Kaylor affair and the buildup to that fight. A tense time to be around the sport back then.

Might be a while though as I am reading an enormous Ken Follet book called World Without End. It's bigger than my arm but has no boxing in it so far.

http://www.ibroresearch.com/?p=5536

Looks like the Walcott biography should be arriving in the new year. Am really looking forward to this one, Clay Moyle posted he had been fortunate enough to have read this already and he said it looks excellent.

In case it's of any interest to anyone on the board my new book about Billy Miske will be available within the next 2-3 weeks: http://www.ibroresearch.com/?p=5652

Great news indeed, Clay. Have been looking forward to this one.

As a long term Miske enthusiast, I shall place your book on my Christmas list or treat myself to it as an early new year gift.

Needless to say, I wish you every success with it and hope that you will receive more appreciation for your efforts than Billy did for a marvellous and courageous career.

Am looking forward to this, have made no secret of how much I enjoyed the Langford book so if this is of similar standard will definitely be buying it, just wish you had got it out early enough to make the christmas list.

Count me in too, Clay. Will be treating myself to it over Christmas!

Funnily enough, was just reading about the Miske book on Cyber Boxing and was thinking that it would be a good read over the Christmas period. Certainly, Miske's life provides great source material sio shoudl be fascinating.

I've (shockingly) still not got round to getting the Langford book (although it was on my Christmas list last year following jeff's indignation at me leaving Sam out of my top 10 p4p. Alas, Santa was unduly negligent in providing a copy). I think I'll be purchasing that and the Miske book together.

superflyweight wrote:although it was on my Christmas list last year following jeff's indignation at me leaving Sam out of my top 10 p4p.

I still haven't forgotten superfly, or forgiven for that matter.

Nipper - The Amazing Story of Boxing's Wonderboy - Alex Daley

Since the festive season has bought the usual glut of boxing books to the Rowley household thought it would be an opportune moment to restart the reviews and where better place to start than with one by a 606v2 member. The story of Nipper Pat Daly truly falls under the realms of so remarkable that were every word of it not true you would dismiss it is too far fetched. A pro by the age of nine, one of the best in Britain by 15, ranked in the world top ten by 16 and burned out and retired by 17.

Fighting in the 1920's and early 1930's Daly learned his trade under "Professor" Andrew Newton and given it was not illegal for children of pretty much any age to turn pro Nipper did just that. Given Daly displayed a rare flair for the game he soon showed he was capable of fighting longer than the six round distances that would be common for one so young and also that he could hold his own against guys a good few years older than he himself was and it was not long before he was fighting ten and fifteen round fights against guys some years older than himself.

Whilst the aforementioned Newton undoubtedly taught Nipper well inside the ring outside it he cannot have been said to have treated him so well commiting him to the kind of schedule that even by the standards of the day was ridiculous, in one year alone, whilst only 16 Nipper fought 319 rounds, well in excess of 20 12 rounders, all of whilst under 17 year old!

Perhaps inevitably, given such a schedule mny predicted Nipper would burn out before he got to fulfil his potential and despite the warnings from many fighters and experts the schedule did not relent and as predicted by 17 Nipper was all but spent and after a few less than stellar performances and defeats Nipper retired.

Whilst the exploitation of a child in this manner is a tragic enough story what makes it even more sad is it does appear Nipper was truly a marvel. A cynical view would be given Alex is a family member he is almost bound to say Nipper was the real deal but the countless quotes and newspaper articles reproduced in the book almost universally attest to the same with these views being echoed by no less than Jimmy Wilde and the Toy Bulldog Mickey Walker, it is also worth remembering in an era of only eight divisions and one champion to say someone was a virtual guarantee to ascend to a world title is no mean feat.

As anyone who has read Alex's contributions on here will know he has a real passion for the history of the sport and gift for research andf detail and the passion and affection for the subject matter in this work is clear throughout and I enjoyed it thoroughly as it makes a fascinating, if slightly depressing story, and as somone who is a fan of the old timers it is a timely and welcome reminder than things were not always golden in the sports "Golden age"

i not been in this section before, and not read any boxing autobiographies for about 7-8 years. however i was given johnny nelson's hard road to glory for Christmas and have read it already. please don't judge my review to harshly, its a first for me since school.

now maybe it's because it a Sheffield lad and it was a walk down memory lane, but i thought it was a gripping and heart warming account of one of our few (Sheffield) world champions.

a miserable amateur who only went to the gym to hang around his big brother, who for two years never let johnny admit he was his kid brother to his trainer (come eventual father figure) brendan ingle or his his other gym mates.

he talks about been convinced to turn pro by his gym mates (including herol "bomber" graham) saying "why get beat up for nothing when you can get paid to be up". he takes there advise and loses his first three, deciding he would quit if he lost five straight. he won next however, and then through pure determination and stubbornness (not to mention more hours in the gym than anyone else) he slowly works his way through a tough career, with its rock bottom lows like freezing up in front of his home crowd for a world title and the fallout afterwards to the eventual high 8 years later in a dramatic showdown with carl thompson for the WBO world cruiser weight title.

another gripping aspect of the story his his relationship with herol graham, he was in awe of him at first and a young johnny nelson moved in with him. they are friends and have a deep bond, that unfortunately goes sour in the later years, very much like his relationship with naz (which is also covered in detail), from a 11 year old kid to future world champion himself.

other subjects covered in the book are his years spent as a sparring partner in germany and the appalling conditions they are expected to put up with, his home life and his very interesting family, his experiences dealing with racism in and out of the ring, his attitude towards been a pundit for sky, as well as many other fascinating storys. writen in a smooth and charming manner with a fitting humour throughout i highly recommend it to any boxing fan or non boxing fan alike.

Eddy have also read Johnny's biography and totally agree it is a far more entertaining read than you would expect from a fighter who rarely delivered excitement in the ring

it was good to read about brendon ingles gym. there was a lot of talent and characters in that gym at that time. he also seemed very honest even on difficult subjects like frank warren, naz and his family.

Eddy, not sure if you have seen it but Bomber Graham has also recently put a biography out, that is worth a read as well.

rowley wrote:Nipper - The Amazing Story of Boxing's Wonderboy - Alex Daley

Since the festive season has bought the usual glut of boxing books to the Rowley household thought it would be an opportune moment to restart the reviews and where better place to start than with one by a 606v2 member. The story of Nipper Pat Daly truly falls under the realms of so remarkable that were every word of it not true you would dismiss it is too far fetched. A pro by the age of nine, one of the best in Britain by 15, ranked in the world top ten by 16 and burned out and retired by 17.

Fighting in the 1920's and early 1930's Daly learned his trade under "Professor" Andrew Newton and given it was not illegal for children of pretty much any age to turn pro Nipper did just that. Given Daly displayed a rare flair for the game he soon showed he was capable of fighting longer than the six round distances that would be common for one so young and also that he could hold his own against guys a good few years older than he himself was and it was not long before he was fighting ten and fifteen round fights against guys some years older than himself.

Whilst the aforementioned Newton undoubtedly taught Nipper well inside the ring outside it he cannot have been said to have treated him so well commiting him to the kind of schedule that even by the standards of the day was ridiculous, in one year alone, whilst only 16 Nipper fought 319 rounds, well in excess of 20 12 rounders, all of whilst under 17 year old!

Perhaps inevitably, given such a schedule mny predicted Nipper would burn out before he got to fulfil his potential and despite the warnings from many fighters and experts the schedule did not relent and as predicted by 17 Nipper was all but spent and after a few less than stellar performances and defeats Nipper retired.

Whilst the exploitation of a child in this manner is a tragic enough story what makes it even more sad is it does appear Nipper was truly a marvel. A cynical view would be given Alex is a family member he is almost bound to say Nipper was the real deal but the countless quotes and newspaper articles reproduced in the book almost universally attest to the same with these views being echoed by no less than Jimmy Wilde and the Toy Bulldog Mickey Walker, it is also worth remembering in an era of only eight divisions and one champion to say someone was a virtual guarantee to ascend to a world title is no mean feat.

As anyone who has read Alex's contributions on here will know he has a real passion for the history of the sport and gift for research andf detail and the passion and affection for the subject matter in this work is clear throughout and I enjoyed it thoroughly as it makes a fascinating, if slightly depressing story, and as somone who is a fan of the old timers it is a timely and welcome reminder than things were not always golden in the sports "Golden age"

Rowley,

Glad you enjoyed it. Many thanks for taking the time and trouble to write a review.

You're more than welcome Alex, did genuinely enjoy the book.

My missus, God bless her, thought of one of the very few boxers she has heard of, shelled out for a biography on him and wrapped it up for me as a Christmas present. As it turns out, that boxer just happened to be Sugar Ray Robinson, and the book 'Pound for Pound', written by Herb Boyd with large contributions from Robinson's son, Ray Jr.

Not the most original fighter to be discussed on here, but as most people plump for Dave Anderson's book on Sugar Ray and (if memory serves me) 'Pound for pound' hasn't been reviewed on here, I'll throw in my take now that I've got through it.

First off, if anyone is looking for a book detailing how Robinson's big fights unfolded, then this isn't the book for you. Seldom does Boyd spend more than a paragraph or so going over the ins and outs of each bout, even his most significant ones against La Motta, Gavilan, Basilio and the like.

Instead, the book is aimed more at Robinson the man; his influence on Harlem and the fortunes of the area, his glamourous lifestyle, his initially successful but later disasterous business and showbiz ventures and, in most detail, his highly-charged relationship with women, in particular his second wife Edna Mae Robinson. The shocking abuse (of all natures) directed towards the women in his life is dealt with in great detail, and has an extra sense of authenticity thanks to Ray Jr's first hand accounts.

While there isn't all that much material directly from Robinson himself, Boyd has used a huge amount of varied sources to compile the book. I was impressed with the range of material used; clearly, Boyd studied his subject at great lengths. Moreover, I was glad that Boyd, who idolized Robinson as a youngster in Detroit, does not try to cover up the often foul man Robinson could be, instead delving in to the memoirs left by the late Edna Mae to paint a picture of a man who was loving and warm one minute, cold and spiteful the next.

My only slight criticism of the book is that it doesn't really get down to the nitty gritty of Robinson's tempestuous relationship with the IBC, and the Mob in general. Given that such factors prevented him from getting his Welterweight title fight much earlier, as well as hampering his progress at Middleweight where he was leapfrogged by La Motta having so far beaten him four out of five, I'd have thought it might have got more than the two or three passing mentions it does.

But on the whole, no real complaints. Well researched, brutally honest and, even considering the fame of Robinson, likely to teach anyone a few things they'd never known about him before. Anyone wanting to boots their knowledge of the original Sugar Ray could do a lot worse.

Chris have got both the Boyd and the Anderson book and would tend to agree the Boyd is the better book, Anderson is worth a read but does tend to airbrush Ray to an extent and puts him on something of a pedestal, whilst his acheivements inside the ring justify this as you have said his actions outside certainly don't, found the Boyd was a far more warts and all portrayal.

Agree Jeff, read Anderson's book quite a while ago but as we both seem to agree on, it deals a little more with the fighter than the man - and the man wasn't as nice a spectacle by any means.

Excellent stuff, Chris. Thanks for sharing.

I'm also pleased that you and jeff make mention of Robinson's unsavoury side, and the fact that the book doesn't gloss over this. Certainly makes it one for the ' wanted ' list.

It's a good job that Carmen Basilio never wrote a bio of Robinson. Basilio, never one for calling a spade a shovel, positively despised Robinson, whom he regarded as ( among other things, presumably, ) an arrogant and smug primadonna.