This account by blogger Zirin (edgeofsports.com) is not really a =peoples history= so much as it is a 250-year chronicle of the nexus between sports and politics in America. True to its blog roots, the book has a casualness to it (Zirin details the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, for example, without naming the crime for which they were convicted), yet the author has done his legwork (and cites sources). More important, he shows how powerfully sports and politics, with a touch of class warfare, have interacted over the centuries, much to the denial of both sides that there?s any connection. Most of the story, unsurprisingly, takes place after the Civil War, with Zirin tracing the development of the major sports in the context of the political events of their times. Emphasis is given to the sixties, particularly Muhammad Alis role in the advancement of racial equality. A thought-provoking, contrarian take on American sport. --Alan Moores