I LOVED this book - an engaging look at the history of Detroit, told in parallel through city history and sports history. So fascinating to learn all of these things I never knew, and to revisit sports moments I remember from growing up. Well written, entertaining, and interesting.

This novel was very rich in history of America and sports in many different contexts. It was very interesting to read. It included things that I had no idea about, which I loved. It is written in reverse chronological order which did get confusing at times

This elegantly conceived cultural history of a great American city and its complicated, proud relationship with the sports teams that represent the Motor City to the world,, succeeds in reflecting the complex, vibrant legacy of Detroit. Like other Rust Belt cities (e.g. Buffalo, Cleveland) Detroit is known for fierce loyalty to the teams that are an economic lifeline for a “hollowed out” city ringed by suburbs both wealthier and whiter. It’s a tale of players and the city’s moguls; of stadiums, notably the antique, beloved Tiger Stadium (now demolished despite considerable public outcry) and the corporate wheeling and dealing that created tax-funded Comerica Park. Triumph and affluence give way to the aftermath of the July days of riots in 1967, then urban decay and finally ,resurrection after the city filed for bankruptcy in 2013, the largest filing in the nation. The city’s fabled heroes - Ty Cobb, Hank Greenberg, Joe Louis, and Isaiah Thomas - receive thoughtful treatment in the narrative that attempts to weave together many stories and, while affectionate, avoids the traps of nostalgia that other less insightful and self-indulgent authors fall into. These two European academic transplants wrote a clear-eyed assessment of the racial and class makeup of Detroit, past and present, and it makes for very entertaining reading. I received a digital copy from NetGalley. Highly recommended.

Much More Than a Book About Sports

I have to admit that I was really looking forward to reading City of Champions: The History of Triumph and Defeat in Detroit by Stefan Szymanski and Silke-Maria Weineck. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio during the 1960s and I hoped that the book would evoke pleasant memories of listening to late night games between the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers and watching the annual game between the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions on a black and white TV on an autumn Sunday afternoon. City of Champions turned out to be much more than I expected.

The authors do not present City of Champions in a typical narrative history format. Instead, they present a series of vignettes about individual sporting events. And they intriguingly present their vignettes in reverse chronological order. Thus, they begin in 2017 with the opening of Little Caesar’s Arena (the home of the Pistons and the Red Wings) and they end in 1763 when a group of Native Americans duped the local British military into abandoning their fort to watch them play a game that resembled lacrosse.

The vignettes include a number of stories about the successes and failures of Detroit’s modern professional sports teams. But they also include some lesser-known events that the authors used to give context to their overall story. For example, the book includes chapters on the life and career of boxer Joe Louis, auto racing by Henry Ford and the death of a child run over by one of the new autos being produced in the city while playing in the street.

In each vignette the authors adroitly move from their sports-related event to a description of Detroit at the time of the event. As a result, City of Champions is far more than a sports book. It is a book that uses sports as a lens through which to view the history of Detroit. And that history reflects poorly on the plight of Detroit’s African American community.

The authors describe how African Americans began arriving in Detroit as part of the Great Migration in the 1910s to escape the Jim Crow south. While some found jobs in the auto plants they all faced discrimination, especially with respect to access to decent housing. The authors show that, during the early and mid 20th century, the powers in the City - the political bosses, the unions and the industrialists - all joined together to maintain a form of institutional racism. Then, as some industries failed and others left the City, the wealthy tax base moved to the surrounding suburbs and all that was left in the City was the poor African American community.

Several of the vignettes show how things have not improved for African Americans in Detroit in recent years. Those that deal with the “Malice in the Palace” in 2004 and the “Motor City Bad Boy Pistons” of the late 1980s and early 1990s show how the media has equated African Americans in Detroit with violence. Several others – such as those dealing with construction of downtown arenas, multiple attempts to host the Olympic Games and the annual Grand Prix event – show how public funds are found to help enrich the rich but are not available to help the impoverished local community.

I give this book a 4 star rating. There is enough about the rich history of sports in Detroit for me to recommend this book for the sports enthusiast. But, because this is far more than a sports book, I can also recommend it for those that have an interest in the history of Detroit or municipal government in general and, especially, for those that want to learn more about the creation and maintenance of institutional racism.

Thanks to #netgalley and to The New Press for my early release copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Detroit has a very interesting and rich history, both in sports and in political, racial and social contexts. Some of it is very uplifting, some is very unflattering but all of it is worth discussing as these two authors do in this very informing and extensive book about the connection between the city's sports and its track record for various political and social issues.

The format of the book is the first clue that this will not be a typical sports book that mingles a few political or social issues into the discussion of what happened on the field and the athletes that accomplished those feats. The book goes in reverse chronological order, starting in 2017 with the opening of the new home for the Red Wings and Pistons and goes all the way back to the 18th century when the city was settled. Through each chapter the connection between a significant sporting event and the issues of the day in Detroit are covered completely and with impeccable research.

Selection of the events was a good cross between significant events in Detroit sports history. The Pistons' "Malice at the Palace" in 2004, the Lions' last playoff victory in 1970, the Tigers' 1945 pennant in the last year when "4Fs" were the majority of major league players and Joe Louis' victory over Max Schmeling in 1936 are just a few of the major sports events involving Detroit are covered. They are complemented by events that shaped Detroit's image and explained how they tied in with the systemic racism and economic inequality that plagued the city. The 1967 riots, the struggle for union workers despite the presence of a large union (that tied in nicely with a chapter on Red Wings' star Ted Lindsey) and the fate of the automobile industry are just a small sampling of those issues in which the research and writing are even better than the sports coverage.

For readers who want to get a good picture of how intertwined sports and social issues can be within a population, this is the best source for that kind of information that one can find. Whit it wasn't a topic for which I was seeking more material, it certainly was a book that I could call an education for history in both sports and the city of Detroit.

I wish to thank The New Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.