Carlisle vs. Army

[Kindle]

This is a work of narrative nonfiction and is written by Lars Anderson.

It is the forgotten story of football's greatest battle. It begins in 1890 where the Indians at Wounded Knee are massacred by the Army and ends in 1912 where the Indians and 'Army' meet again in a battle of another kind. In the telling of this story we learn about the lives of Jim Thorpe, Dwight Eisenhower, and Pop Warner.

Carlisle was an Indian school in Pennsylvania which was created to "elevate the Indians by uprooting their youths and immersing them in the white man's ways. Playing football became part of this immersion.

This is a facinating read of the development of the game of football. One fact I found particularly intriguing was that they used to sew suitcase handles to the jersery of the ball carrier so that they could ram him through the defensive line.

Tho the lives of Jim, Ike and Pop were very different, they all loved football and it was football that was the basis for the choices each man made in their lives.

This is a very interesting read for either football or non-football fans. I highly recommend this book.