Fleischer, Nat – Black Dynamite IV. Fighting Furies. Story of the Golden Era of Jack Johnson, Sam Langford and their Negro Contemporaries

Description

Fleischer, Nat ‘Black Dynamite IV. Fighting Furies. Story of the Golden Era of Jack Johnson, Sam Langford and their Negro Contemporaries’ 1939 1st ed. 282-pages. Mottled front cover, but the spine and rear cover have no such issue, and the rest of the book is in good condition, straight with tight binding, and very clean.

Black Dynamite Volume IV: “Fighting Furies”: Story of the Golden Era of Jack Johnson, Sam Langford and their Negro Contemporaries (published in 1939) is a seminal historical work by Nat Fleischer, the longtime editor of The Ring magazine. As the fourth installment of his five-part series dedicated to African American boxing history, this 282-page book captures the turbulent and thrilling “Golden Era” of heavyweights and heavy hitters at the turn of the 20th century.

The Reign of Jack Johnson: The book places a heavy focus on Jack Johnson, who shattered racial barriers in 1908 to become the world’s first Black heavyweight champion. Drawing from his first-hand perspective as an eyewitness and close confidant to Johnson, Fleischer details the champion’s technical brilliance, larger-than-life personality, and the intense societal backlash he faced from white America.

The Legend of Sam Langford: A major portion of the biography is dedicated to Sam Langford (the “Boston Bonecrusher”), widely considered the greatest boxer to never win a world title. Fleischer highlights Langford’s devastating power and versatility, mapping out the tragic irony of a fighter so feared that even Jack Johnson refused to defend the title against him after winning it.

The “Dusky Quartet” and the Color Line: Beyond Johnson and Langford, Fleischer honors their elite contemporaries, notably Joe Jeanette and Sam McVey. Fleischer famously argues that “there really wasn’t a white man who could be classed with this dusky quartet”. The book provides a searing look at the “color line”—the systemic segregation that forced these four legends to constantly fight one another in grueling multi-fight series while being denied broader championship opportunities.