Skip to Main Content

Praise for Wil Haygood ('76)

Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination That Changed America

Cover of the book, Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination That Changed America

"Haygood, the author of previous biographies of Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Sammy Davis Jr., and Sugar Ray Robinson, is passionate and, at times, eloquent.... Haygood has done a great service by reminding us of an extraordinary man at an extraordinary moment."
The New York Times

"The choice of Thurgood Marshall was an event that changed the history of America, and this book proves that the changes were all positive."
President Jimmy Carter

"The individual fragments Haygood assembles are often fascinating and sometimes horrifying—glimpses of the dark side of American history that make Marshall's appointment, indeed his entire career, shine all the brighter.... After he left the presidency, Johnson informed the justice that he wanted to write a book about the nomination battle. He died too soon, and now Haygood has ably filled the gap."
The Boston Globe

"An important contribution to American history."
Missourian

Compelling story-telling with an impact felt even to the present day.... As political theater goes, Haygood's curation here is matchless."
The Kansas City Star

"Armed with determination and charm, Marshall drew on his long history of battling segregationalists to prepare for his showdown with the Senate. Haygood details Marshall's remarkable career and the long journey that led to his tumultuous nomination to the Supreme Court, changing the course of American history.
Booklist (starred review)


Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson

Cover of the book, Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson

"A literary knockout."
Sports Illustrated

"Thoroughly marvelous.... Where this lyrically written biography—with its jazz-inflected prose—truly excels is in its evocation of the culturally rich post-Renaissance Harlem, where Robinson began boxing as a ninth-grade dropout."
Los Angeles Times

"Haygood's book is certainly one of the best biographies of a boxer ever written.... An important contribution to both sports literature and African American studies."
The Washington Post


In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis Jr.

Cover of the book,

"In Black and White does splendid justice to its subject while brilliantly touching on the larger theme of race in twentieth-century America."
Variety

"An American life considered with art and understanding in a major work of biography."
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)