Showdown in Memphis: An Epic Tale of the Forties

by Tom Hammond

1997 Stated First edition.

485 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1997

Reviews

[Michael Compton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ostensibly centered on a pair of WWII-era football games between Memphis rivals Central High and Christian Brothers, this meandering memoir might better be called "A Bunch of Stuff I Remember from the 1940s." Former footballer and Marine Tom Hammond (not to be confused with the sportscaster of the same name) has a great time talking up his native town, relating endless anecdotes and tidbits from Memphis history, the on- and off-field exploits of the city's elite (white) high school athletes, and their experiences in the War. It's a great idea for a book, but Hammond has little control of his material, reeling from childhood nostalgia, to long stretches of encyclopedic facts, to gridiron play-by-play, and to unrelated tales of war heroism, right down to transcripts of Congressional Medal citations. Hammond is unencumbered by political correctness, or any apparent sense of self-awareness. But for all the book's flaws, and for all its skimmable passages, it often has the compulsive readability of the first-hand account, and it is chock full of details of everyday life. A good resource for those interested in Memphis history, perhaps best taken with a few grains of salt.