In its heyday, which spanned the mid 18th to the late 19th centuries, the bare-knuckle prize-fight was a wildly popular sport which, as gloved boxing does now, produced some extraordinary characters and legendary bouts, both in Britain and the United States. With contests lasting hours and going into over 100 thrilling, punishing rounds, the sport drew crowds both common and elite-from royals and politicians to writers like Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope to Dickens and Thackaray, to the middle and working classes-all drawn together by the brutal excitement and the spirited wagering the sport generated. Much like gloved boxing today, average men could become superstars overnight, and they could lose the accolades and their health just as quickly. In Bare Fists , Bob Mee shows the fascinating evolution of bare- knuckle boxing, from the earliest days when there were no rules, to the introduction of the Broughton and London Prize Ring Rules, to what was, for bare-knuckle fighting, the beginning of the end-the Marquess of Queensbury Rules, with their call for gloves and timed rounds and their banishment of such brawl-like moves as wrestling holds. Rich in rare and exhilarating anecdote, Bare Fists recreates with thrilling immediacy all of the big bouts of the sport, including those of the legendary American champion of the 1880s, John L. Sullivan. Bob Mee brings the coverage full circle, with a report on how this strange sub-culture continues to flourish, fueled by films like Brad Pitt's Fight Club . Bare Fists is an exciting and important addition to the literature of boxing. The "sweet science," as gloved boxing is sometimes called, is simply the latest style in the ever-evolving history of hand-to-hand sporting combat. Before gloves, there were bare knuckles. Boxing writer Mee offers a vivid chronicle of the freewheeling bare-knuckle era, beginning in the 1720s. Contemporary fight fans will be surprised to discover that boxing and controversy were inextricably linked long before Mike Tyson started biting ears. For example, the wife of nineteenth-century American fighter John Camel Heenan was reputed to have had affairs with Charles Dickens, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Alexander Dumas. Along with the scandals, Mee offers superb re-creations of the greatest fights of the bare-knuckle era, including a 37-round championship bout in 1856 between Heenan and Brit Tom Sayers that makes the "Thrilla in Manila" look downright tame. Full of fascinating detail, this evocative history gives new life to a seemingly arcane subject. Wes Lukowsky Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved What a book! An artist with words. -- Dallas Morning News Bob Mee has written on boxing for more than 20 years. Currently boxing correspondent for the Daily Telegraph , he also wrote for the Independent on Sunday . He was assistant editor of the trade paper Boxing News and has worked on the production teams of both ITV and Sky Sports. This is his fourth boxing book, his previous books being: Boxing , Heroes and Champions ; Lords of the Ring with Peter Arnold; and Twenty and Out: A Life in Boxing , with promoter Mickey Duff. Used Book in Good Condition