American Colossus

Big Bill Tilden and the Creation of Modern Tennis

Allen M. Hornblum (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

512 Seiten

2018
University of Nebraska Press (Verlag)
978-0-8032-8811-9 (ISBN)

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Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, Bobby Jones, and Bill Tilden were the legendary quartet of the “Golden Age of Sports” in the 1920s. They transformed their respective athletic disciplines and captured the imagination of a nation. The indisputable force behind the emergence of professional tennis as a popular and lucrative sport, Tilden’s on-court accomplishments are nothing short of staggering. The first American‑born player to win Wimbledon and a seven‑time winner of the U.S. singles championship, he was the number 1 ranked player for ten straight years.

A tall, flamboyant player with a striking appearance, Tilden didn’t just play; he performed with a singular style that separated him from other top athletes. Tilden was a showman off the court as well. He appeared in numerous comedies and dramas on both stage and screen and was a Renaissance man who wrote more than two dozen fiction and nonfiction books, including several successful tennis instructions books.

But Tilden had a secret—one he didn’t fully understand himself. After he left competitive tennis in the late 1940s, he faced a lurid fall from grace when he was arrested after an incident involving an underage boy in his car. Tilden served seven months in prison and later attempted to explain his questionable behavior to the public, only to be ostracized from the tennis circuit. Despite his glorious career in tennis, his final years were much constrained and lived amid considerable public shunning.

Tilden’s athletic accomplishments remain, as he is arguably the best American player ever. American Colossus is a thorough account of his life, bringing a much-needed look back at one of the world’s greatest athletes and a person whose story is as relevant as ever.

Allen M. Hornblum is a former criminal justice administrator and college professor. He is the author of several books, including The Invisible Harry Gold: The Man Who Gave the Soviets the Atom Bomb and Acres of Skin: Human Experiments at Holmesburg Prison. John Newcombe is a former tennis great from Australia who won twenty-six Grand Slam championships, including singles titles in three Wimbledons, two U. S. Opens, and two Australian Opens.

Foreword by John Newcombe
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part 1. The Struggle for the Top
1. “A Game of Society”
2. “A Useless Kid Who Would Never Be Worth Anything”
3. “Always Keep Mentally Alert”
Part 2. A Champion’s Reign
4. “A Year of Living Triumphantly”
5. “You Hit Too Hard”
6. “No Ordinary Man”
7. “The Boss of All Tennis Players”
8. “Evil Influence”
9. “The Greatest Wizard the Game Has Known”
Part 3. A Foreign Challenge
10. “Three against One”
11. “Decidedly Unlike Tilden”
12. “Tilden Has Been a Stormy Petrel”
Part 4. From Professional Success to Villain
13. “A Burning Affection for the Game”
14. “Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor”
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Erscheinungsdatum	13.02.2018
Vorwort	John Newcombe
Zusatzinfo	30 photographs, index
Verlagsort	Lincoln
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Themenwelt	Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
	Sport ► Ballsport ► Tennis
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Gender Studies
ISBN-10	0-8032-8811-5 / 0803288115
ISBN-13	978-0-8032-8811-9 / 9780803288119
Zustand	Neuware