And the Crooked Places Made Straight: The Struggle for Social Change in the 1960s (The American Moment)

By David M. Chalmers

Book Overview

In 1950s Los Angeles, motormouth sports promoter Mike Dimitro convinced 20 young American football players to join him on the trip of a lifetime. Dimitro called them the 'American All Stars' and flew them around the world to play rugby league - a game none of them had seen or even heard of, never mind played! Miraculously, they competed with the very best Australia, New Zealand and France had to offer, and shocked the locals with some stunning victories. They took on world-class rugby players on the pitch, mixed with celebrities off it and wooed the women of every town they descended on. Yet beyond the media circus, the All Stars had fights and flings, suffered tragic illness and farcical court cases. Ultimately, Dimitro's mission to establish rugby league in the United States failed in spectacular fashion. He fought with the rugby league authorities, the NFL and the law. He changed his name, his age, his home and his wife time after time - yet his extraordinary life story is matched blow for blow by the All Stars who counted among their number a future Hollywood stuntman, an Olympic medallist, an NFL champion, and stranger still... Exactly 60 years on, No Helmets Required present this remarkable, forgotten story of international sport, as told by the men who lived it. Book jacket.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801853346
• ISBN13: 9780801853340
• Release Date: May 1996
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.6" x 6.0"