Author Talk: Joe Louis's Battle for Freedom During WWII

Sports historians Johnny Smith and Randy Roberts will be visiting Detroit to discuss their book The Fight of His Life: Joe Louis’s Battle for Freedom During World War II (2025, Basic Books). During the 1930s and 1940s, no African American athlete commanded the spotlight more than heavyweight boxer Joe Louis, who spent much of his life in Detroit. His 1938 knockout victory over German Max Schmeling struck an early blow against Nazi Germany. But it was Louis’s service in the looming war that transformed him from a patriotic role model into history’s first prominent Black athlete turned activist.

Expertly revising the life story of one of America’s most iconic Black athletes, Smith and Roberts’s biography celebrates Joe Louis’s forgotten fight against fascism abroad and racism at home.

About The Authors:

Johnny Smith is the J.C. “Bud” Shaw Professor of Sports History at Georgia Tech. He is the author of Jumpman, and co-author of The Fight of His Life, War Fever, A Season in the Sun, and Blood Brothers. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Randy Roberts is distinguished professor of history at Purdue University. An award-winning author, he focuses on the intersection of popular and political culture, and has written or co-written biographies of such iconic athletes and celebrities as Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Bear Bryant, Oscar Robertson, John Wayne and Muhammad Ali, as well as books on the Vietnam War, the Alamo, the 1973-1974 college basketball season, and West Point football during World War II. A Season in the Sun is the second book he has written with Johnny Smith. Roberts lives in Lafayette, Indiana.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase. This is NOT a ticketed event, so seats will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Register on Eventbrite to receive important updates about this event.

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