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Rising Tide: Bear Bryant, Joe Namath, and Dixie's Last Quarter Audiobook
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The extraordinary story of how Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and Joe Namath, his star quarterback at the University of Alabama, led the Crimson Tide to victory and transformed football into a truly national pastime.
During the bloodiest years of the civil rights movement, Bear Bryant and Joe Namath-two of the most iconic and controversial figures in American sports-changed the game of college football forever. Brilliantly and urgently drawn, this is the gripping account of how these two very different men-Bryant a legendary coach in the South who was facing a pair of ethics scandals that threatened his career, and Namath a cocky Northerner from a steel mill town in Pennsylvania-led the Crimson Tide to a national championship.
To Bryant and Namath, the game was everything. But no one could ignore the changes sweeping the nation between 1961 and 1965-from the Freedom Rides to the integration of colleges across the South and the assassination of President Kennedy. Against this explosive backdrop, Bryant and Namath changed the meaning of football. Their final contest together, the 1965 Orange Bowl, was the first football game broadcast nationally, in color, during prime time, signaling a new era for the sport and the nation.
Award-winning biographer Randy Roberts and sports historian Ed Krzemienski showcase the moment when two thoroughly American traditions-football and Dixie-collided. A compelling story of race and politics, honor and the will to win, Rising Tide captures a singular time in America. More than a history of college football, this is the story of the struggle and triumph of a nation in transition and the legacy of two of the greatest heroes the sport has ever seen.
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“[This is] a can’t-lay-it-down book. In evocative prose, Roberts and Krzemienski recapture the drama, glory, and shame of big-time college sports set in an era of social upheaval. You don’t have to be a Crimson Tide fan to enjoy this great read.”
— George C. Rable, Charles Summersell Chair in Southern History, University of Alabama
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“Rising Tide is a riveting football story that doubles as first-rate, seminal historical investigation…An absolutely wonderful read!”
— Douglas Brinkley, New York Times bestselling author of Cronkite -
“I didn’t think the world needed another Bear Bryant book, but this one digs a little deeper and blitzes me with new info.”
— Dan Jenkins, New York Times bestselling author of Flyfishing through the Midlife Crisis -
“An absolute gem…Rising Tide is an expertly written, must-read story of the intersection of athletics and politics.”
— Gerald Early, National Book Critics Circle Award–winning author of The Culture of Bruising -
“Electrifying…The short and long of it, this book is just plain explosive!”
— John Mitchell, assistant head coach and defensive line coach, Pittsburgh Steelers
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About the Authors
Randy Roberts is a distinguished professor of history at Purdue University and the author of several books, including A Team for America: The Army-Navy Game That Rallied a Nation and Joe Louis: Hard Times Man. His other books include biographies of Jack Dempsey, Jack Johnson, and John Wayne; a history of American sports since 1945; and books on Charles Lindbergh, the Mike Tyson trial, and the Vietnam War. He lives in Lafayette, Indiana.
Ed Krzemienski is a historian of sports and popular culture. He served as primary consultant for HBO’s Emmy-award winning documentary, Breaking the Huddle: The Integration of College Football. He served in a similar capacity for HBO’s documentary Namath, which also won an Emmy. An expert on college football, he has written on the subject for numerous popular publications, including ESPN’s College Football Encyclopedia and ESPN’s Big Ten Encyclopedia.
About Alan Sklar
Alan Sklar, a graduate of Dartmouth, has excelled in his career as a freelance voice actor. Named a Best Voice of 2009 by AudioFile magazine, his work has earned him several Earphones Awards, a Booklist Editors’ Choice Award (twice), a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award, and Audiobook of the Year by ForeWord magazine. He has also narrated thousands of corporate videos for clients such as NASA, Sikorsky Aircraft, IBM, Dannon, Pfizer, AT&T, and SONY.