In 1908 talented black US fighter Jack Johnson won the heavyweight championship of the world from the Canadian Tommy Burns. There was an immediate storm of protest. Writers, including Jack London, and politicians feared the accession of the fearless and outspoken Johnson would threaten white supr...
He was lying on top of a blanket on a narrow bunk in the cabin of a ship. His head ached and his mouth was dry. Gently he caressed a bump on the side of his head. He swung his legs to the floor and stood up. He eased his way across the confined space of a cabin to a porthole. It was clamped shut ...
After he left Wainoni, the Gammon Man, it took Kella over an hour to reach the saltwater village of Tabuna. He paddled several miles down the Lau Lagoon, between the artificial islands, then made a detour and dragged his canoe up on to the beach a mile to the north of his destination. He hurried ...
He had started building his new home three years ago. First he had hammered four tall, sharpened guide-posts into the corners of the site. Then he had felled tree trunks on the mainland to make a raft. Loosening large boulders on the coral reef, enduring the huge pounding waves that sometimes dro...
The organisation of boxing in the USA was still haphazard. In many areas, like New York State, public bouts were still banned. Wily promoters got round this by forming private clubs, at which bouts were allowed. These were very popular, especially if the showmen could persuade their members that ...