Lester, R: Stagg's University The Rise, Decline, and Fall of Big-Time Football at Chicago

Winner of the North American Society for Sports History Book Award, 1996.

"This volume is academically solid, scrupulously researched, and written with style. . . . Lester's narrative is compelling, and, in short, if you want to understand the place of intercollegiate athletics in the larger American society in the twentieth century, this volume is the place to start."--Ronald A. Smith, Journal of Sport History "This splendid biography of a famous coach is, among other things, a brilliant commentary on football's role in the American university and the national culture."--Arthur Schlesinger Jr. "Lester, who had private access to all of Stagg's papers and letters, has scrutinized the phenomenon of college football as closely as anyone has. His book is an amazing compendium of the forces that bred big-time college football."--Rick Telander, Chicago Sun-Times "An impressive analytical account. . . . Lester's unsparing look at big-time college athletics is thought-provoking and challenging."--Vernon L. Volpe, Illinois Historical Journal "Lester's attractive study of [Stagg] has provided an important contribution both to the history of American football and the general history of sport."--International Journal of the History of Sport