City of Champions, SilkeMaria Weineck
City of Champions, SilkeMaria Weineck
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
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City of Champions
A History of Triumph and Defeat in Detroit

Author: Silke-Maria Weineck, Stefan Szymanski

Narrator: Leon Nixon

Unabridged: 15 hr 20 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 10/13/2020


Synopsis

From Ty Cobb and Hank Greenberg to the Bad Boys, from Joe Louis and Gordie Howe to the Malice at the Palace, City of Champions explores the history of Detroit through the stories of its most gifted athletes and most celebrated teams, linking iconic events in the history of Motown sports to the city's shifting fortunes.

In an era when many teams have left rustbelt cities to relocate elsewhere, Detroit has held on to its franchises, and there is currently great hope in the revival of the city focused on its downtown sports complexes—but to whose benefit? Szymanski and Weineck show how the fate of the teams in Detroit's stadiums, gyms, and fields is echoed in the rise and fall of the car industry, political upheavals ushered in by the depression, World War II, the 1967 uprising, and its recent bankruptcy and renewal.

Driven by the conviction that sports not only mirror society but also have a special power to create both community and enduring narratives that help define a city's sense of self, City of Champions is a unique history of the most American of cities.

About Silke-Maria Weineck

Silke-Maria Weineck, author of The Tragedy of Fatherhood, is a professor of German and comparative literature at the University of Michigan. She lives in Ann Arbor.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Larry on May 21, 2022

Packed with history that I should have known... but didn't.......more

Goodreads review by Malcolm on June 01, 2021

I am often reminded of Italo Calvino’s fabulous novel Invisible Cities in which it gradually becomes clear that the different cities Marco Polo is describing as having encountered in his travels are all the same city, recast through different eyes, seen and experienced differently as different place......more

Goodreads review by Mary on April 01, 2021

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 i......more

Goodreads review by B on December 22, 2021

Excellent book! I especially loved the chapters on Detroit's bids for the Olympic Games. As somebody who wishes the Olympics would come to my home city (wishful thinking, as we're definitely too small to host them), it's interesting to read the obstacles faced by a significantly larger city. The pol......more

Goodreads review by Ron on January 16, 2022

I was disappointed with the City of Champions. While the authors highlighted key championships, they focused too much of their attention on the dominant social issues that occurred during the time period.......more