{"product_id":"the-sons-of-westwood-9780252079733","title":"The Sons of Westwood","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTells the story of the most significant college basketball program at a pivotal period in American cultural history.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e Outstanding Academic Title, 2014.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"This volume uncovers the indelible link between sports and society in the US.  While he focuses on Wooden and UCLA men's basketball, Smith remains mindful of the larger forces molding the young men who played for the 'Wizard of Westwood.' Highly recommended.\"--\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe Sons of Westwood\u003c\/i\u003e is an excellent, wide-ranging history, not only of UCLA basketball and the Wizard of Westwood, but of the great social movements which characterized the era of the Wooden Dynasty. I recommend it to any who love basketball or are interested in one of the more interesting periods of recent American life. John Matthew Smith is a historian on which we should all keep our eye.\"--Charles E. Young, Chancellor Emeritus, UCLA\u003cbr\u003e\"This is the John Wooden book I've been waiting to read--a well-written, meticulously researched, and astute portrait of one of the sporting world's most interesting and influential characters. John Matthew Smith's book is at once a pleasure to read and a solid work of history.\"--Jonathan Eig, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eOpening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A highly readable cultural study of one of the greatest teams in sports history.”--\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"John Matthew Smith may be the first author to fully and fairly assess the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) basketball program during its miraculous run of ten championships from 1964 to 1975. . . . revealing and insightful.\"--\u003ci\u003eJournal of Sport History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A thoroughly engrossing account. . . . \u003ci\u003eThe Sons of Westwood\u003c\/i\u003e makes a complex story during a turbulent time in U.S. history a little easier to understand. It is a well-researched account that would be attractive to scholars and a popular audience. . . . John Matthew Smith connects the events occurring in collegiate athletics to events in the larger American society.\"--\u003ci\u003eThe Journal of African American History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"In this carefully-researched study, John Matthew Smith has provided an entertaining and insightful look at college basketball's most successful coach and team dynasty. Mixing sport history with social history, Smith reveals the complex reality behind iconic coach John Wooden and his UCLA Bruin teams, as well as the not-so-innocent days of college athletics. Fans and scholars of college sports should not miss this important book.\"--Charles H. Martin, author of \u003ci\u003eBenching Jim Crow: The Rise and Fall of the Color Line in Southern College Sports, 1890–1980\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A fascinating account of the greatest dynasty in the history of college athletics and its legendary architect, John Wooden. Giving full attention to UCLA basketball's unprecedented success and the careers of its star players, John Matthew Smith provides a thoughtful analysis of societal concerns and issues surrounding the program in the 1960s and early '70s. A first-rate work.\"--J. Samuel Walker, author of \u003ci\u003eACC Basketball: The Story of the Rivalries, Traditions, and Scandals of the First Two Decades of the Atlantic Coast Conference\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"\u003ci\u003eThe Sons of Westwood\u003c\/i\u003e is the history of an institution (UCLA), the chronicle of a sport (basketball), and the biography of its greatest coach (John Wooden), in a time of cultural and political upheaval (the 1960s and 1970s). It succeeds richly on all four fronts.\"--Susan Ware, author of \u003ci\u003eGame, Set, Match: Billie Jean King and the Revolution in Women's Sports\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"John Matthew Smith tells, in a very balanced and forthright manner, the inside story of John Wooden's famed UCLA basketball program and how it fit into the larger narratives of the civil rights movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement, and the athletic revolution. He shows how Wooden and his extraordinarily talented and gifted integrated teams helped transform college basketball from a regional pastime to a national phenomenon.\"--David K. Wiggins, coauthor of \u003ci\u003eThe Unlevel Playing Field: A Documentary History of the African American Experience in Sport\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"University of Illinois Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49400496161111,"sku":"9780252079733","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780252079733.jpg?v=1730470823","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-sons-of-westwood-9780252079733","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}