Grade 6-10 - This set meets its stated goal of showing how sport offers insight into America's history and culture. Each volume begins with a theme for the decade such as war, politics, or civil rights and shows how social change affected athletics, or, the opposite. The books face controversies head on, such as the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis (considered a "sporting low"), minorities in sports, drug abuse, and women's fight for equality. A wealth of information is included in the five to eight pages devoted to each year. College, professional, amateur, and Olympic sports are covered, and golf, powerboats, auto racing, boxing, swimming, tennis, and running, along with the major sports, are given ample space. Readability is aided by icons at the start of each entry indicating the sport and bold-print text boxes that offer insights into personalities, rules, or highlights for the year.
