What do you think?
Rate this book
Shattering the Glass: The Remarkable History of Women's Basketball
Over the past decade, women's basketball has exploded onto the national sports scene. WNBA and NCAA television ratings have skyrocketed; movies, magazines, and clothing lines showcase female players. But as the authors of Shattering the Glass show, women's basketball has a much longer history, reaching back over a century of struggle, liberation, and gutsy play. Shattering the Glass offers a sweeping chronicle of women's basketball in the United States, from its invention in the late nineteenth century to its dominant position in sports today. Offering vivid portraits of forgotten heroes and contemporary stars, it also provides a broader perspective on the history of the sport, exploring its relationship to changing ideas of womanhood, efforts to expand women's economic and political rights, and definitions of sexual equality. Based on original interviews with players, coaches, administrators, broadcasters, and extensively illustrated, Shattering the Glass provides a moving, gritty view of the game on and off the court, and an empowering story of the generations of women who have shaped women's basketball.
306 pages, Hardcover
First published August 19, 2005
22 people are currently reading
267 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
January 25, 2009
The game of basketball has one less legend today.
Hall of Fame coach Kay Yow finally lost her more than 20-year battle with breast cancer. The 66-year-old North Carolina native was one of the most accomplished coaches in women’s basketball history.
ESPN repeatedly showed her career highlights: the 737 career wins, which left her sixth on the all-time list; the 21 20-win seasons and 1998 Final Four appearance with the North Carolina State Wolfpack; and Olympic gold medals as a head and assistant coach in 1988 and 1984, respectively.
Yow was also hailed for the courageous way she battled cancer without complaint for more than two decades. When Jim “Jimmy V” Valvano, the late former coach of the Wolfpack’s men’s team, first contracted cancer in 1992, he contacted Yow for guidance and support.
In a highly emotional 2007 awards ceremony, Yow received the first Jimmy V ESPY Award after coaching her team to the Sweet 16 despite having the third and final recurrence of breast cancer.
Yow’s grace, dignity and resolve in fighting and fund raising to combat the disease that ultimately claimed her life all received signifcant commentary in the tributes that issued forth after her death.
But none of them pointed out that in 1960, after a stellar high school career, despite a profound love of basketball, Yow quit the sport, as authors Pamela Grundyand Susan Shackleford write, “Without a protest, without a whimper.”
Yow’s decision came from a lack of options and was typical of many women’s choices during that time. Grundy and Shackleford trace the history of women’s basketball from the game’s inception in 1892 to the 21st century in Shattering The Glass: The Remarkable History of Women’s Basketball, an informative and accessible book.
The book is aptly named.
Scholars Grundy and Shackleford start at the game’s beginning, describing how basketball initially was the province of elite women’s colleges like Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Smith was the institution my wife Dunreith attended while we were first dating, but that’s a story for another time!
Unlike many sports books, though, Shattering the Glass is more than a sports history that in this case would be a service in itself for documenting the thousands of women who paved the road for modern day stars like Sheryl Swoopes, Dawn Staley, who graces the book’s cover, and Diana Taurasi.
In each of the book’s four sections, the authors talk about the broader social context in which the women lived and struggled to play.
Grundy and Shackleford write in the introduction, “Battles for women’s sports have gone hand in hand with those for women’s rights. Both athletes and activists have worked to highlight women’s physical and mental abilities, to win women greater roles in public life and to push views of womanhood beyond fixed definitions of distinctly “feminine” appearance and behavior.
While there has been progress, the authors note, it has not been linear. Rather they compare the development of the women’s game to a basketball game itself, “a collection of shifting strategies and challenges, hot shooting streaks and scoreless slumps.”
One of the hotter periods comes during the 20s, 30s and 40s, when the women’s game rose in popularity and scope among high school students during the 20s, 30s and 40s.
The game was particularly popular in in Midwestern states like Iowa, where the annual tournament provided an outlet for the hometown pride many felt in their female players.
Yet this period of comparative advancement was not universal. Grundy and Shackelford write about how America’s segregation at the time meant that black and white women, despite each having tremendous talent, did not compete against each other.
The post-World War II period also saw retrenchment as a cultural conservatism rose in America, leading to diminished options for women. This era coincided directly with the late Yow’s graduation from high school mentioned earlier.
Fortunately, things did not stay static. In the book’s final two parts, Grundy and Shackleford trace the ultimately successful push for Title IX and the emergence of the modern college and professional games.
Staley, the 2004 Olympic flag bearer for the U.S. Olympic team who learned the game playing against boys in inner-city Philadelphia, offers a fitting summary when she talks about how far the game has come and how long it has to go.
Shattering The Glass has many strengths.
Throughout the book Grundy and Shackleford demonstrate the cultural and legal obstacles women have confronted in their efforts to play the game. These barriers have ranged from unequal funding and worse facilities to continually pushing up against others’ definition that being athletic and muscular is by definition unfeminine.
They also show effectively how even today, while the woman’s game has gained a large amount of acceptance, lesbian players and coaches often feel compelled to downplay or even deny their sexual orientation.
I love basketball and considered myself relatively well informed about the game’s history, but learned about many athletes I had either heard about in different contexts, like the amazingly versatile Mildred ‘Babe’ Didrikson, or had never known before, like Nera White, the first woman’s basketball player selected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
I also had not known that some of the game’s most accomplished coached, like C. Vivian Stringer, cheered, rather than played, basketball in high school during the 60s. Similarly, I winced when reading after University of Maryland men’s basketball coach Charles “Lefty” Driesell, after many conversations with women’s coach Chris Weller, declare, “These girls are real serious.”
My only quibble is a minor one, and stems from the book tending more toward academic structure and language. While Grundy and Shackleford capture the feel of the game in the different eras they discuss, the game descriptions they include to begin several chapters serve more as introduction to that section’s larger analytical point than a real rendering of the game’s action.
On a related note, I would have liked to learn more about many of these fascinating women, but understood that the work was a survey that of necessity touched on, rather than explored in depth, many women’s contributions.
That said, Shattering The Glass is an important contribution to an all-too-often underexplored aspect of women’s basketball-its roots and continual struggle to survive and expand.
Readers of the book are likely to gain an even deeper and richer appreciation of the late Kay Yow, her life’s work on and off the court and the legacy she leaves behind.
Hall of Fame coach Kay Yow finally lost her more than 20-year battle with breast cancer. The 66-year-old North Carolina native was one of the most accomplished coaches in women’s basketball history.
ESPN repeatedly showed her career highlights: the 737 career wins, which left her sixth on the all-time list; the 21 20-win seasons and 1998 Final Four appearance with the North Carolina State Wolfpack; and Olympic gold medals as a head and assistant coach in 1988 and 1984, respectively.
Yow was also hailed for the courageous way she battled cancer without complaint for more than two decades. When Jim “Jimmy V” Valvano, the late former coach of the Wolfpack’s men’s team, first contracted cancer in 1992, he contacted Yow for guidance and support.
In a highly emotional 2007 awards ceremony, Yow received the first Jimmy V ESPY Award after coaching her team to the Sweet 16 despite having the third and final recurrence of breast cancer.
Yow’s grace, dignity and resolve in fighting and fund raising to combat the disease that ultimately claimed her life all received signifcant commentary in the tributes that issued forth after her death.
But none of them pointed out that in 1960, after a stellar high school career, despite a profound love of basketball, Yow quit the sport, as authors Pamela Grundyand Susan Shackleford write, “Without a protest, without a whimper.”
Yow’s decision came from a lack of options and was typical of many women’s choices during that time. Grundy and Shackleford trace the history of women’s basketball from the game’s inception in 1892 to the 21st century in Shattering The Glass: The Remarkable History of Women’s Basketball, an informative and accessible book.
The book is aptly named.
Scholars Grundy and Shackleford start at the game’s beginning, describing how basketball initially was the province of elite women’s colleges like Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Smith was the institution my wife Dunreith attended while we were first dating, but that’s a story for another time!
Unlike many sports books, though, Shattering the Glass is more than a sports history that in this case would be a service in itself for documenting the thousands of women who paved the road for modern day stars like Sheryl Swoopes, Dawn Staley, who graces the book’s cover, and Diana Taurasi.
In each of the book’s four sections, the authors talk about the broader social context in which the women lived and struggled to play.
Grundy and Shackleford write in the introduction, “Battles for women’s sports have gone hand in hand with those for women’s rights. Both athletes and activists have worked to highlight women’s physical and mental abilities, to win women greater roles in public life and to push views of womanhood beyond fixed definitions of distinctly “feminine” appearance and behavior.
While there has been progress, the authors note, it has not been linear. Rather they compare the development of the women’s game to a basketball game itself, “a collection of shifting strategies and challenges, hot shooting streaks and scoreless slumps.”
One of the hotter periods comes during the 20s, 30s and 40s, when the women’s game rose in popularity and scope among high school students during the 20s, 30s and 40s.
The game was particularly popular in in Midwestern states like Iowa, where the annual tournament provided an outlet for the hometown pride many felt in their female players.
Yet this period of comparative advancement was not universal. Grundy and Shackelford write about how America’s segregation at the time meant that black and white women, despite each having tremendous talent, did not compete against each other.
The post-World War II period also saw retrenchment as a cultural conservatism rose in America, leading to diminished options for women. This era coincided directly with the late Yow’s graduation from high school mentioned earlier.
Fortunately, things did not stay static. In the book’s final two parts, Grundy and Shackleford trace the ultimately successful push for Title IX and the emergence of the modern college and professional games.
Staley, the 2004 Olympic flag bearer for the U.S. Olympic team who learned the game playing against boys in inner-city Philadelphia, offers a fitting summary when she talks about how far the game has come and how long it has to go.
Shattering The Glass has many strengths.
Throughout the book Grundy and Shackleford demonstrate the cultural and legal obstacles women have confronted in their efforts to play the game. These barriers have ranged from unequal funding and worse facilities to continually pushing up against others’ definition that being athletic and muscular is by definition unfeminine.
They also show effectively how even today, while the woman’s game has gained a large amount of acceptance, lesbian players and coaches often feel compelled to downplay or even deny their sexual orientation.
I love basketball and considered myself relatively well informed about the game’s history, but learned about many athletes I had either heard about in different contexts, like the amazingly versatile Mildred ‘Babe’ Didrikson, or had never known before, like Nera White, the first woman’s basketball player selected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
I also had not known that some of the game’s most accomplished coached, like C. Vivian Stringer, cheered, rather than played, basketball in high school during the 60s. Similarly, I winced when reading after University of Maryland men’s basketball coach Charles “Lefty” Driesell, after many conversations with women’s coach Chris Weller, declare, “These girls are real serious.”
My only quibble is a minor one, and stems from the book tending more toward academic structure and language. While Grundy and Shackleford capture the feel of the game in the different eras they discuss, the game descriptions they include to begin several chapters serve more as introduction to that section’s larger analytical point than a real rendering of the game’s action.
On a related note, I would have liked to learn more about many of these fascinating women, but understood that the work was a survey that of necessity touched on, rather than explored in depth, many women’s contributions.
That said, Shattering The Glass is an important contribution to an all-too-often underexplored aspect of women’s basketball-its roots and continual struggle to survive and expand.
Readers of the book are likely to gain an even deeper and richer appreciation of the late Kay Yow, her life’s work on and off the court and the legacy she leaves behind.
November 23, 2024
thank you to netgalley for the arc!!
normally i would never request a nonfiction book as an arc because that's making a committment and i need to be mood-reading for nonfiction, but considering women's basketball is one of my capital-I Interests i made an exception for this one. i heart women's basketball <33
honestly i was surprised by how much of the history i knew already! most of the new stuff i learned was from the pre-WNBA/ABL era, when women were just starting to play basketball. i was also surprised by how widespread it was in the 20s/30s --- apparently men and women played almost equally before the idea of a "nuclear family" and "traditional family values" became super prevalent.
i will always be a kim mulkey hater idc what she did for the game. i know she was a good player. if kim mulkey has no haters i am dead.
i really wish this book had been able to include this WNBA season because a LOT of stuff happened during it (especially with the context of it being caitlin clark and angel reese's rookie seasons) but i understand that there is always a point where you have to stop so the book can actually get published lol
normally i would never request a nonfiction book as an arc because that's making a committment and i need to be mood-reading for nonfiction, but considering women's basketball is one of my capital-I Interests i made an exception for this one. i heart women's basketball <33
honestly i was surprised by how much of the history i knew already! most of the new stuff i learned was from the pre-WNBA/ABL era, when women were just starting to play basketball. i was also surprised by how widespread it was in the 20s/30s --- apparently men and women played almost equally before the idea of a "nuclear family" and "traditional family values" became super prevalent.
i will always be a kim mulkey hater idc what she did for the game. i know she was a good player. if kim mulkey has no haters i am dead.
i really wish this book had been able to include this WNBA season because a LOT of stuff happened during it (especially with the context of it being caitlin clark and angel reese's rookie seasons) but i understand that there is always a point where you have to stop so the book can actually get published lol
August 13, 2025
This book made me tear up so many times. I love the WNBA so much.
June 19, 2025
WNBA is the most important sports league in the world and you can’t change my mind!!
June 30, 2025
This is a really interesting overview of the history behind f women’s basketball in America. As a longtime sports fan who is new to women’s basketball (and really basketball in general) this was a foundational read, which has provided a ton of context to a world I knew virtually nothing about.
January 9, 2025
Excellent historical recount of women's basketball, going all the way back to the sport's inception. The history is given life with the lively characters and events that gave us the women's sport we all love. The new chapters are excellent additions to an already great piece of basketball nonfiction. Pairs well with Hoop Muses.
February 25, 2025
Shattering the Glass is not just a book about sports history; it is a fundamental work that intertwines the narrative of women's basketball with the struggles for women's rights and the evolution of American society. Pamela Grundy and Susan Shackelford offer a detailed and passionate analysis of the challenges, victories, and transformations that have shaped this sport, making the book an essential reference for anyone interested in sports history and gender equality issues.
The book spans over a century of women's basketball, from its origins in the 19th century to contemporary times. The authors illustrate how basketball has provided women with a means of expression and empowerment, although it has long been hindered by cultural and social barriers. From the game's early days, adapted to "female needs" with fewer physical rules, to the rise of the WNBA, the book documents how athletes have challenged stereotypes and discrimination to gain recognition and visibility.
One of the most compelling aspects of the book is the richness of firsthand accounts. Through interviews and detailed reports, Grundy and Shackelford give voice to the protagonists of this long battle. They recount figures such as Senda Berenson, a pioneer of women's basketball, and legendary athletes like Pat Summitt and Cheryl Miller, who transformed the sports landscape with their talent and determination.
Beyond sports chronicle, "Shattering the Glass" explores the broader implications of women's basketball in society. The book addresses the role of Title IX. This U.S. legislation revolutionized women's access to sports and examines the relationship between female athletes and issues of race, gender identity, and media visibility. The authors highlight how the success of women's basketball is not just about records or trophies but a testament to the evolution of the fight for equality.
Grundy and Shackelford write with academic rigor while maintaining the ability to engage the reader. The narrative is fluid, and rich in anecdotes and insights, making the book accessible to both sports enthusiasts and those seeking a broader perspective on social issues. The tone is passionate yet always balanced, providing a clear and well-documented picture of the evolution of women's basketball.
"Shattering the Glass" is an essential work for anyone who wants to understand the long journey of women's basketball and its impact on society. It is not just a sportsbook but a testimony to the resilience and strength of generations of athletes who have fought to be recognized. With thorough research and compelling storytelling, Grundy and Shackelford deliver a read that inspires, informs, and captivates.
The book spans over a century of women's basketball, from its origins in the 19th century to contemporary times. The authors illustrate how basketball has provided women with a means of expression and empowerment, although it has long been hindered by cultural and social barriers. From the game's early days, adapted to "female needs" with fewer physical rules, to the rise of the WNBA, the book documents how athletes have challenged stereotypes and discrimination to gain recognition and visibility.
One of the most compelling aspects of the book is the richness of firsthand accounts. Through interviews and detailed reports, Grundy and Shackelford give voice to the protagonists of this long battle. They recount figures such as Senda Berenson, a pioneer of women's basketball, and legendary athletes like Pat Summitt and Cheryl Miller, who transformed the sports landscape with their talent and determination.
Beyond sports chronicle, "Shattering the Glass" explores the broader implications of women's basketball in society. The book addresses the role of Title IX. This U.S. legislation revolutionized women's access to sports and examines the relationship between female athletes and issues of race, gender identity, and media visibility. The authors highlight how the success of women's basketball is not just about records or trophies but a testament to the evolution of the fight for equality.
Grundy and Shackelford write with academic rigor while maintaining the ability to engage the reader. The narrative is fluid, and rich in anecdotes and insights, making the book accessible to both sports enthusiasts and those seeking a broader perspective on social issues. The tone is passionate yet always balanced, providing a clear and well-documented picture of the evolution of women's basketball.
"Shattering the Glass" is an essential work for anyone who wants to understand the long journey of women's basketball and its impact on society. It is not just a sportsbook but a testimony to the resilience and strength of generations of athletes who have fought to be recognized. With thorough research and compelling storytelling, Grundy and Shackelford deliver a read that inspires, informs, and captivates.
Read
August 11, 2025This was so interesting! I picked this book up because I'm a budding WNBA fan (Allisha for MVP!), and it was really cool to learn more about the evolution of the sport I'm watching today. There's so much I'd want to cover in a review, because there are so many interesting stories and people featured in these pages.
What I keep thinking about was how popular women's basketball was in pockets of the country as early as the 1930s/40s. Local high school/college teams in small towns and cities garnered loyal followings, especially throughout the the Midwest and South (my favorite team to read about were the Wayland Flying Queens, mostly based off of their awesome name). Semi-professional teams were also sometimes sponsored by companies that had hired a lot of women to work during WWII. Some of these teams would even travel in caravans together throughout the country so they could compete in basketball tournaments! However, the social conservatism and the rise in mass media through television during the 1950s halted a lot of the momentum built in earlier years. The value of sports became increasingly tied to how marketable they were for live television, and chauvinists would undermine women's basketball as "unladylike."
This felt like a common theme throughout the book; sports organizations and institutions would constantly try to dictate how the public should feel about women's basketball. Players and coaches, on their end, never apologized for competing in the game they loved throughout every decade of the the sport's existence. For many women, to play basketball also meant being thrust into the role of being an advocate for themselves.
The genealogy of women's basketball presented in the book reveals so much - the tooth-and-nail efforts it took to implement Title IX across the country, how the mutating growth of capitalism has affected small-town culture in America, and how basketball - at its core, a game invented for kids to play - can be a site of gender rebellion, personal growth and expression, and freedom from the constraints of the outside world.
What I keep thinking about was how popular women's basketball was in pockets of the country as early as the 1930s/40s. Local high school/college teams in small towns and cities garnered loyal followings, especially throughout the the Midwest and South (my favorite team to read about were the Wayland Flying Queens, mostly based off of their awesome name). Semi-professional teams were also sometimes sponsored by companies that had hired a lot of women to work during WWII. Some of these teams would even travel in caravans together throughout the country so they could compete in basketball tournaments! However, the social conservatism and the rise in mass media through television during the 1950s halted a lot of the momentum built in earlier years. The value of sports became increasingly tied to how marketable they were for live television, and chauvinists would undermine women's basketball as "unladylike."
This felt like a common theme throughout the book; sports organizations and institutions would constantly try to dictate how the public should feel about women's basketball. Players and coaches, on their end, never apologized for competing in the game they loved throughout every decade of the the sport's existence. For many women, to play basketball also meant being thrust into the role of being an advocate for themselves.
The genealogy of women's basketball presented in the book reveals so much - the tooth-and-nail efforts it took to implement Title IX across the country, how the mutating growth of capitalism has affected small-town culture in America, and how basketball - at its core, a game invented for kids to play - can be a site of gender rebellion, personal growth and expression, and freedom from the constraints of the outside world.
February 5, 2025
In this fantastic history of women’s basketball in the United States, Pamela Grundy and Susan Shackelford bring the nearly two centuries of the sport to life in this fantastic new title. Exploring how women fought to play team sports in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the professionalization of women’s sports into collegiate and professional leagues in the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries, they share how stars like Brittney Griner, Caitlin Clark, and Dawn Staley got to their current prestigious positions in the sport. Drawing on a larger history of women’s sports and their empowerment through competition and athletics, Grundy and Shackelford explore multiple generations of women’s basketball players to contextualize these modern celebrities. A fantastic overview packed with detail and some incredible images, this is a great book for academics and for die-hard women’s basketball fans interested in the history of the sport, and Grundy and Shackelford’s writing styles make this book easy to read and absolutely fascinating. The different narratives and the amount of information in this book really brings the sport’s history to life, and it is not overwhelming; rather, the book is well-organized and excellently paced so readers will struggle to put this brilliant new sports history book down.
Thanks to NetGalley and University of North Carolina Press for the advance copy.
Thanks to NetGalley and University of North Carolina Press for the advance copy.
March 27, 2021
With the college basketball championship tournaments in full-swing (although, learning that the women have not been given permission by the NCAA to use the "March Madness" slogan, along with the recent issue of separate and nowhere-near-equal workout facilities between men's and women's sites during the 2021 pandemic version of the tournament, there are sad inequities still today), this seemed like a good read, even being 15+ years old. I heard stories of my grandmother being a good basketball player who even had the local high school coach beg her father to allow her to play for the team (spoiler alert: my great-grandfather wouldn't let her); this would've been in the 1930s, when the same societal views referenced in this book were prevalent. If readers think that "women's basketball" means the Olympics, college, or the WNBA, this book fills in those many other details (a second pro league when the WNBA began, after another pro league a decade prior; NCAA titles only held from the early 1980s, when another organization held them for decades before). It was refreshing that several women still lived to be interviewed for their first-hand accounts.
November 25, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!
This book is a full historical summary of women's basketball from the very beginning in the early 1900s up to the 2024 WNBA season. It's rare that I read a book on sports history without knowing the majority of the stories - but this was a rare exception as I didn't know a lot about women's basketball prior to the past few decades.
The author does a fantastic job detailing the early days of basketball and the variety of issues that women faced while trying to start up college teams. The shift in types of challenges, but not the amount, is really interesting to follow as women's basketball becomes more popular throughout time. I found the more recent seasons were breezed through more quickly than the past, but it is much easier to access information on the status of 2024 than it is for 1924.
I recommend this book for any basketball fan as it shares a lot of information that has not been told before in other books.
This book is a full historical summary of women's basketball from the very beginning in the early 1900s up to the 2024 WNBA season. It's rare that I read a book on sports history without knowing the majority of the stories - but this was a rare exception as I didn't know a lot about women's basketball prior to the past few decades.
The author does a fantastic job detailing the early days of basketball and the variety of issues that women faced while trying to start up college teams. The shift in types of challenges, but not the amount, is really interesting to follow as women's basketball becomes more popular throughout time. I found the more recent seasons were breezed through more quickly than the past, but it is much easier to access information on the status of 2024 than it is for 1924.
I recommend this book for any basketball fan as it shares a lot of information that has not been told before in other books.
March 28, 2024
Strong history of women's basketball. Underscores the importance of Title IX- legislation that did not initially intend to expand opportunities for female athletes but proved to be the foundation for women in sports today. Helped me better understand how political/social attitudes about femininity influence bball, and why this sport progressed so much slower for women than men even though they started at the same time in history.
May 6, 2025
At a time when the interest in women's basketball is at peak levels, a history of the sport is perfect. As it turns out, one has been around for a bit, and this version contains updates to the Caitlin Clark era. If you want to know the roots of the sport, here is the place to start. At times, it reads like an academic exercise, but none of that should discourage you from a book that does its best to give you as much as possible about women's basketball in about 200 pages.
December 1, 2021
Covering the earliest high school and regional tournaments through traveling teams, Title IX, the WBL, and the 1996 USA women's basketball victory this complete history of the game ends on a high note with the success of both NCAA women's basketball and the WNBA as a post-collegiate option for the stars of schools like UConn.
December 27, 2025
Although this was a required book for internship credit through my college, I was very excited to read it. I was hoping this book could change my mind about non-fiction. I ended up DNF-ing at about 50-60 percent through. The content became repetitive, wasn't very engaging, and didn't really illustrate a memorable story to follow.
November 27, 2023
Solid read--methodical rundown of the history of women's hoops mainly at the amateur level with a cursory overview of the pro game. Introduced me to a lot of players and coaches I'd never heard of or maybe only had a passing knowledge of. Good book.
December 12, 2023
Workmanlike book, but extremely enlightening. A must-read if you want to learn more about the development of a women's basketball -- the highs (the first women's team sport) and the lows (the blowback from folks who felt it wasnt appropriatefor women to compete), the struggles (for recognition) and the triumphs (title ix), the women who pushed the game forward.
March 19, 2022
Having begun playing and coaching basketball in 1971, I enjoyed reading much of the history I lived through.
June 9, 2022
Excellent history on women’s basketball. Academic and scholarly yet very readable!
November 2, 2024
Great historical analysis! Grundy is apparently writing another book based on women’s basketball developments from 2004-2024. I look forward to reading it.
October 13, 2025
“Women’s sports is the real secret history of the women’s movement” 💪🏼
December 13, 2025
Well-researched, well-written, and just overall fascinating.
September 29, 2010
A long overdue revelation that women helped create Tobacco Road, just as much as the men.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews