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100 Athletes Who Shaped Sports History
The collaborative effort of Timothy Jacobs and Russell Roberts, 100 Athletes Who Shaped Sports History is a compilation of one hundred single-page biographies summarizing the lives and achievements of great athletes ranging from Ted Williams, Patty Berg, and Sugar Ray Leonard, to Jackie Robinson, Michael Jordan, and Wayne Gretzky. A black-and-white photograph or a simple sketch of each of the great sports figures accompanies the brief narrative describing their role in the particular sport they embraced. 100 Athletes Who Shaped Sports History is recommended as a quick and easy read for sports trivia buffs, as well as being a great book to introduce young people to the varied and diverse world of sports legends.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
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February 6, 2023
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Given the wide range of sports (including motor sports) covered in this volume, 100 people does not seem like enough! This even takes a deep dive into four athletes from ancient history and a few from before the 1900s. The timeline at the bottom of the table of contents shows the distribution of entries from over the years, and is a nice touch. Bethany Hamilton and Colin Kaepernick seem to be the only two additions to the original 2003 version, but since I haven't seen that one, I might be wrong. It is helpful that the people are listed in order of birth. I wonder if surfer Duke Kahanamoku was in the previous edition.
The only glaring omission that I saw was the absence of Babe Didrickson Zaharias. Since she really was the best all around US athlete of the 20th century, it was surprising that she wasn't included.
I was impressed that there is a good cross section of women athletes as well as athletes of color, and appreciated that people like bowler Marion Ladewig and martial artist Ip Man were included. There are plenty of collective biographies who cover well known figures, but it is harder to find lesser known figures. Each entry is packed with information about the person's life, their sports records, and their legacy.
If you are just starting a biography collection for a school, or looking to refresh the books you have and add a lot of diverse people, this series is a great way to do that.
Given the wide range of sports (including motor sports) covered in this volume, 100 people does not seem like enough! This even takes a deep dive into four athletes from ancient history and a few from before the 1900s. The timeline at the bottom of the table of contents shows the distribution of entries from over the years, and is a nice touch. Bethany Hamilton and Colin Kaepernick seem to be the only two additions to the original 2003 version, but since I haven't seen that one, I might be wrong. It is helpful that the people are listed in order of birth. I wonder if surfer Duke Kahanamoku was in the previous edition.
The only glaring omission that I saw was the absence of Babe Didrickson Zaharias. Since she really was the best all around US athlete of the 20th century, it was surprising that she wasn't included.
I was impressed that there is a good cross section of women athletes as well as athletes of color, and appreciated that people like bowler Marion Ladewig and martial artist Ip Man were included. There are plenty of collective biographies who cover well known figures, but it is harder to find lesser known figures. Each entry is packed with information about the person's life, their sports records, and their legacy.
If you are just starting a biography collection for a school, or looking to refresh the books you have and add a lot of diverse people, this series is a great way to do that.
Displaying 1 of 1 review