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A Terrible Splendor: Three Extraordinary Men, a World Poised for War, and the Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played Review

I rarely write reviews for products, but I'm making an exception for this book. I've never read a book that so perfectly blended history and sport. The book is, in some ways, five separate stories woven together: A narrative account of the legendary Budge/Von Cramm match at the 1937 Davis Cup; biographies of Gottfried von Cramm, Don Budge, and Bill Tilden (particularly von Cramm); and a historical account of interwar Germany, with a particular focus on the treatment of homosexuals. Von Cramm's homosexuality was an open secret at the time of the match, but the Nazis were willing to overlook his sexual preferences as long as he kept winning.

The historical background of the match is daunting, but Fisher does an exceptional job weaving it into the various storylines regarding the players involved in the legendary match which lies at the narrative center of this book. This book deserved honest-to-goodness consideration for a Pulitzer. Even absent such recognition, this book should be a must-read both for tennis fans and for people interested in the history of Weimar and pre-WWII Nazi Germany.

A Terrible Splendor: Three Extraordinary Men, a World Poised for War, and the Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played Feature

ISBN13: 9780307393951
Condition: New
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A Terrible Splendor: Three Extraordinary Men, a World Poised for War, and the Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played Overview

Before Federer versus Nadal, before Borg versus McEnroe, the greatest tennis match ever played pitted the dominant Don Budge against the seductively handsome Baron Gottfried von Cramm. This deciding 1937 Davis Cup match, played on the hallowed grounds of Wimbledon, was a battle of titans: the world's number one tennis player against the number two; America against Germany; democracy against fascism. For five superhuman sets, the duo’s brilliant shotmaking kept the Centre Court crowd–and the world–spellbound.

But the match’s significance extended well beyond the immaculate grass courts of Wimbledon. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression and the brink of World War II, one man played for the pride of his country while the other played for his life. Budge, the humble hard-working American who would soon become the first man to win all four Grand Slam titles in the same year, vied to keep the Davis Cup out of the hands of the Nazi regime. On the other side of the net, the immensely popular and elegant von Cramm fought Budge point for point knowing that a loss might precipitate his descent into the living hell being constructed behind barbed wire back home.

Born into an aristocratic family, von Cramm was admired for his devastating good looks as well as his unparalleled sportsmanship. But he harbored a dark secret, one that put him under increasing Gestapo surveillance. And his situation was made even more perilous by his refusal to join the Nazi Party or defend Hitler. Desperately relying on his athletic achievements and the global spotlight to keep him out of the Gestapo’s clutches, his strategy was to keep traveling and keep winning. A Davis Cup victory would make him the toast of Germany. A loss might be catastrophic.

Watching the mesmerizingly intense match from the stands was von Cramm’s mentor and all-time tennis superstar Bill Tilden–a consummate showman whose double life would run in ironic counterpoint to that of his German pupil.

Set at a time when sports and politics were inextricably linked, A Terrible Splendor gives readers a courtside seat on that fateful day, moving gracefully between the tennis match for the ages and the dramatic events leading Germany, Britain, and America into global war. A book like no other in its weaving of social significance and athletic spectacle, this soul-stirring account is ultimately a tribute to the strength of the human spirit.

From the Hardcover edition.

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Customer Reviews

My 90-year-old father liked this! - Daiva Kianersi - Los Angeles, CA
I bought this as gift for my dad. He fled Lithuania as a young man, only to be conscripted by the German Army during WWII. He was in Dresden during the bombing of '45. Although this book is about the earlier time of WWI, it was interesting to him as a survivor of war and occupation. He took up tennis at the age of 58, and only stopped playing around age 82! He really enjoyed the book!

A winner - chiplatt - Chicago
This book will appeal to tennis fans, but Fisher deserves an ever broader readership given the depth of his discussion of Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. Fisher's literary method is to describe the lives and key matches of the top German and American tennis players of the era, and show how they are affected by the tensions that exist in the political and social climate of that period of time. It truly is Fisher's off-the-court writing that warrants the five star review for this book.

Great match; good read - Fred Doevils - Gorinchem, The Netherlands
A great read about `the greatest tennis match ever'. People in their forties may think its Wimbledon 1980 Borg-McEnroe, the youth may think it's Wimbledon 2008 Federer-Nadal. Ladies may think it's one of the matches Evert and Navratilova played or even 1926 Cannes Lenglen-Woody But after reading this book, you will now it's Budge-von Cramm Davis Cup 1937. Very well documented. Well written.
Sadly there is a big flaw; too big a part is about Big Bill Tilden. Just read Fank Deford.

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Tuesday, August 31, 2010