WAR IN THE RING: Joe Louis, Max Schmeling, and the Fight Between Hitler and America

One African American boxer. One member of the Nazi party. A fight that resonated around the world.

Joe Louis was a poor kid from Detroit. Max Schmeling was a poor kid from northeast Germany. For both boys, boxing was a way out and a way up—but despite all they may have had in common, their paths were not parallel. Whether they liked it or not, they were on a collision course toward each other, and their rivalry was about so much more than their own ambitions.
The fights between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling are still some of the most famous in boxing history. Besides the skill and charisma of Joe and Max, the fights represented the American dream—the hopes of black Americans to participate in that dream—and Nazi ideals. But while outside the ring the world was churning, inside there was just Joe and Max. War in the Ring is the story of their careers and their complicated and fascinating relationship.

John Florio and Ouisie Shapiro are the authors of One Punch from the Promised Land: Leon Spinks, Michael Spinks and the Myth of the Heavyweight Title (Lyons Press, 2013) and One Nation Under Baseball: How the 1960s Collided with the National Pastime (University of Nebraska Press, 2017). They're also contributors to the New Yorker, the Atlantic, and Vice Sports and were also contributing writers to Sports Illustrated's 100 Greatest Moments in Sports History. Florio is also the author of the critically acclaimed Jersey Leo series, which includes Sugar Pop Moon (Prometheus, July 2013) and Blind Moon Alley (Prometheus, December 2013). Shapiro is a five-time Emmy award-winning writer/producer with over 30 years experience in sports television. She has also produced and written ESPN SportsCentury documentaries on Jack Dempsey, Sonny Liston, Rocky Marciano, Rocky Graziano, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Oscar De La Hoya. She is the author of three children's books and holds an MA in Journalism from New York University.