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Carlisle vs. Army: Jim Thorpe, Dwight Eisenhower, Pop Warner, and the Forgotten Story of Football's Greatest Battle
A stunning work of narrative nonfiction, Carlisle vs. Army recounts the fateful 1912 gridiron clash that pitted one of America’s finest athletes, Jim Thorpe, against the man who would become one of the nation’s greatest heroes, Dwight D. Eisenhower. But beyond telling the tale of this momentous event, Lars Anderson also reveals the broader social and historical context of the match, lending it his unique perspectives on sports and culture at the dawn of the twentieth century.
This story begins with the infamous massacre of the Sioux at Wounded Knee, in 1890, then moves to rural Pennsylvania and the Carlisle Indian School, an institution designed to “elevate” Indians by uprooting their youths and immersing them in the white man’s ways. Foremost among those ways was the burgeoning sport of football. In 1903 came the man who would mold the Carlisle Indians into a Glenn “Pop” Warner, the son of a former Union Army captain. Guided by Warner, a tireless innovator and skilled manager, the Carlisle eleven barnstormed the country, using superior team speed, disciplined play, and tactical mastery to humiliate such traditional powerhouses as Harvard, Yale, Michigan, and Wisconsin–and to, along the way, lay waste American prejudices against Indians. When a troubled young Sac and Fox Indian from Oklahoma named Jim Thorpe arrived at Carlisle, Warner sensed that he was in the presence of greatness. While still in his teens, Thorpe dazzled his opponents and gained fans across the nation. In 1912 the coach and the Carlisle team could feel the national championship within their grasp.
Among the obstacles in Carlisle’s path to dominance were the Cadets of Army, led by a hardnosed Kansan back named Dwight Eisenhower. In Thorpe, Eisenhower saw a legitimate target; knocking the Carlisle great out of the game would bring glory both to the Cadets and to Eisenhower. The symbolism of this matchup was lost on neither Carlisle’s footballers nor on Indians across the country who followed their exploits. Less than a quarter century after Wounded Knee, the Indians would confront, on the playing field, an emblem of the very institution that had slaughtered their ancestors on the field of battle and, in defeating them, possibly regain a measure of lost honor.
Filled with colorful period detail and fascinating insights into American history and popular culture, Carlisle vs. Army gives a thrilling, authoritative account of the events of an epic afternoon whose reverberations would be felt for generations.
"Carlisle vs. Army is about football the way that The Natural is about baseball.”
–Jeremy Schaap, author of I
This story begins with the infamous massacre of the Sioux at Wounded Knee, in 1890, then moves to rural Pennsylvania and the Carlisle Indian School, an institution designed to “elevate” Indians by uprooting their youths and immersing them in the white man’s ways. Foremost among those ways was the burgeoning sport of football. In 1903 came the man who would mold the Carlisle Indians into a Glenn “Pop” Warner, the son of a former Union Army captain. Guided by Warner, a tireless innovator and skilled manager, the Carlisle eleven barnstormed the country, using superior team speed, disciplined play, and tactical mastery to humiliate such traditional powerhouses as Harvard, Yale, Michigan, and Wisconsin–and to, along the way, lay waste American prejudices against Indians. When a troubled young Sac and Fox Indian from Oklahoma named Jim Thorpe arrived at Carlisle, Warner sensed that he was in the presence of greatness. While still in his teens, Thorpe dazzled his opponents and gained fans across the nation. In 1912 the coach and the Carlisle team could feel the national championship within their grasp.
Among the obstacles in Carlisle’s path to dominance were the Cadets of Army, led by a hardnosed Kansan back named Dwight Eisenhower. In Thorpe, Eisenhower saw a legitimate target; knocking the Carlisle great out of the game would bring glory both to the Cadets and to Eisenhower. The symbolism of this matchup was lost on neither Carlisle’s footballers nor on Indians across the country who followed their exploits. Less than a quarter century after Wounded Knee, the Indians would confront, on the playing field, an emblem of the very institution that had slaughtered their ancestors on the field of battle and, in defeating them, possibly regain a measure of lost honor.
Filled with colorful period detail and fascinating insights into American history and popular culture, Carlisle vs. Army gives a thrilling, authoritative account of the events of an epic afternoon whose reverberations would be felt for generations.
"Carlisle vs. Army is about football the way that The Natural is about baseball.”
–Jeremy Schaap, author of I
349 pages, Hardcover
First published August 28, 2007
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April 24, 2021
Carlisle vs Army by Lars Anderson
And Warner, understood what made Indian athletes tick better than any white man in America, knew exactly how to fire up his boys before the game. He reminded them that it was the fathers and grandfathers of these Army players who killed their fathers and grandfathers in the Indian Wars. They were the ones who murdered innocent women and children at Wounded Knee. They were the ones who spilled Indian blood all over the plains. Now, Warner told his boys, it was the Indian’s time to fight back.
Jim Thorpe was voted the greatest athlete in U.S. history. It is very hard to dispute this moniker or his accolades that were stripped from him for unwittingly having played summer baseball for meal money. This moniker is especially true when one considers how many sports Thorpe dominated including football and the decathlon.
I think of Jim Thorpe more often than perhaps any other legendary American athlete. It is not just Thorpe’s athletic prowess but the underdog Indian story. Look at what he was able to achieve in the face of a racist society who tried to take away his heritage. His path both to athletic greatness and later in life were filled with difficulty and heartache to be sure.
This book is mostly about Thorpe then, and to some degree about Pop Warner - his football coach at Carlisle who later became a legend in his own right - and to a much lesser degree Dwight Eisenhower who served as Thorpe’s foil. I was initially skeptical that this triple bio could work but it was largely a set up to tell Thorpe’s story in a more dramatic way.
It is not a lengthy book at three hundred pages so the earliest chapters provide just enough of a biography to build toward the 1912 football matchup between top rated Carlisle Indian Academy and Army. The chapter on the 1912 Stockholm Olympics - which occurred just months prior -was also exciting and there is a well done epilogue that wraps up the Thorpe legacy.
In that penultimate game at West Point in the fall of 1912, lining up across from Thorpe and Carlisle were Eisenhower a young sophomore linebacker and his Army teammate Omar Bradley. I found it interesting that the only way Eisenhower and many of his teammates felt that they could beat Carlisle was by intentionally injuring Jim Thorpe. It was a rough game taking place in a different era but it must be said that the future President of the United States was definitely not an honorable young man! On the sideline was Pop Warner encouraging his Carlisle players with the us against them rhetoric. I won’t spoil the outcome of the game here.
4 stars. An excellent researched story that the author eventually weaves together through the different threads.
September 1, 2009
In 1912, one of the classic American football games was played--between Carlisle and mighty Army. A book published in 2007 covers much of the same territory, "The Real All Americans: The Team That Changed a Game, a People, a Nation" by Sally Jenkins--and covers it well. But Lars Anderson's book, approaching the issues differently, likewise has created a wonderful examination of that game and events leading up to it.
The structure of Anderson's book weaves the story of three people together, culminating in that 1912 context. First, legendary coach Pop Warner; second, the great Indian athlete, Jim Thorpe; third, a gritty undersized football player and future military leader, Dwight Eisenhower. What was at stake in the Carlisle-Army game might be summarized by a segment of the pep talk Warner gave his team just before the contest began: "Remember it was their fathers and grandfathers who destroyed your way of life. Remember Wounded Knee. Remember all of this on every play. Let's go." And so the Indian team from Carlisle took on the Army team with those words ringing in their ears.
How did we get to this point? The book describes the arc of Warner's life, his childhood, his becoming an attorney, and the strange voyage leading him into coaching. Early on, he was a vagabond, moving from team to team (even leaving the position at Carlisle a bit before returning). He was an innovator and could inspire his team.
Then there was Thorpe, from the American Southwest. Growing up, he was always restless, would run away from school routinely. He ended up at Carlisle, but ran away from that institution, too. The book illustrates his foray into professional baseball during one such hiatus (which, of course, was to come back to haunt him). Upon his return to Carlisle, he led them ably. The story of his Olympic heroics are also recounted.
Then, Ike, who--paradoxically enough--also played professional baseball under an assumed name ("Wilson"), but he was never caught for that behavior. The story of the undersized, hot tempered youth who ended up going to West Point, desperate to make the football team.
The three narratives come together with that game on November 9th, 1912. The story of the game itself is well told (no sense giving away all the elements). Then, the story of the aftermath for all three protagonists.
This is indeed a spellbinding historical tale. The book is well researched and well written, filled with details that provide depth to the subjects of this work. Highly recommended for those with an interest in the subject. . . .
The structure of Anderson's book weaves the story of three people together, culminating in that 1912 context. First, legendary coach Pop Warner; second, the great Indian athlete, Jim Thorpe; third, a gritty undersized football player and future military leader, Dwight Eisenhower. What was at stake in the Carlisle-Army game might be summarized by a segment of the pep talk Warner gave his team just before the contest began: "Remember it was their fathers and grandfathers who destroyed your way of life. Remember Wounded Knee. Remember all of this on every play. Let's go." And so the Indian team from Carlisle took on the Army team with those words ringing in their ears.
How did we get to this point? The book describes the arc of Warner's life, his childhood, his becoming an attorney, and the strange voyage leading him into coaching. Early on, he was a vagabond, moving from team to team (even leaving the position at Carlisle a bit before returning). He was an innovator and could inspire his team.
Then there was Thorpe, from the American Southwest. Growing up, he was always restless, would run away from school routinely. He ended up at Carlisle, but ran away from that institution, too. The book illustrates his foray into professional baseball during one such hiatus (which, of course, was to come back to haunt him). Upon his return to Carlisle, he led them ably. The story of his Olympic heroics are also recounted.
Then, Ike, who--paradoxically enough--also played professional baseball under an assumed name ("Wilson"), but he was never caught for that behavior. The story of the undersized, hot tempered youth who ended up going to West Point, desperate to make the football team.
The three narratives come together with that game on November 9th, 1912. The story of the game itself is well told (no sense giving away all the elements). Then, the story of the aftermath for all three protagonists.
This is indeed a spellbinding historical tale. The book is well researched and well written, filled with details that provide depth to the subjects of this work. Highly recommended for those with an interest in the subject. . . .
June 30, 2010
Of the three historical figures whose lives Anderson traces to their intersection at a football game between Army and the Carlisle Indian School in 1912, I find myself most interested in the life of Carlisle's coach, "Pop" Warner. Although I suspect a bit of myth-making in the attribution of nearly every football innovation of the first few decades of the 20th century to this one man, I find that Warner's wily tactics translate to the page more effectively than Jim Thorpe's athletic grace or Dwight Eisenhower's Midwestern grit. Besides a host of outrageous trick plays and useful new formations, Warner is said to have pioneered the manipulation of the news media in order to publicize his program. Part of Warner's strategy, it seems, was to spread false reports about player injuries and fatigue in order to give his opponents a false confidence and to convince the public that his powerhouse team was really the underdog in the coming match-up. Obviously, the trick only worked for so long before audiences caught on.
In a similar way, however, we readers catch on to the author's trick of hyping up every one of the forty or more athletic contests that he describes in the three hundred pages of small type that lead up to "the clash of heroes." It doesn't take long for one game to blend into another, one brilliant Thorpe run into the next. One more win for Carlisle. One more act of determination from Eisenhower. One more not-very-insightfully-considered vignette about American racism. It's not that there isn't a lot of interesting material here: questions about cultural assimilation; questions about violence and the value of sport; questions about public image, fame, and the creation of popular icons. All of these are central issues of American identity, and the book knows they're there. It just doesn't seem to know how to probe at those questions in meaningful ways. And, without such probing, there's really only enough here for a long magazine feature.
In a similar way, however, we readers catch on to the author's trick of hyping up every one of the forty or more athletic contests that he describes in the three hundred pages of small type that lead up to "the clash of heroes." It doesn't take long for one game to blend into another, one brilliant Thorpe run into the next. One more win for Carlisle. One more act of determination from Eisenhower. One more not-very-insightfully-considered vignette about American racism. It's not that there isn't a lot of interesting material here: questions about cultural assimilation; questions about violence and the value of sport; questions about public image, fame, and the creation of popular icons. All of these are central issues of American identity, and the book knows they're there. It just doesn't seem to know how to probe at those questions in meaningful ways. And, without such probing, there's really only enough here for a long magazine feature.
December 6, 2008
This book is not about football as much as it is about Native Americans finding their way in white society only a generation after their fathers and grandfathers had settled on reservations in the west. The book chronicles the lives of Pop Warner, head football coach at Carlisle Indian Boarding school, Jim Thorpe, a Sauc/Fox indian and naturally phenomenal all-around athlete from a reservation in Oklahoma who would go on to win multiple gold medals in his first and only Olympics, and Dwight "Ike" Eisenhower while he was a student and varsity football player at West Point Military College. The story revolves around the lives of these three men and the day the U.S. soldiers (of West Point) and the Indians (of Carlisle Indian Boarding School) met to wage a new sort of battle only two decades after the massacre at Wounded Knee. The story of Jim Thorpe's incredible and seemingly effortless feats as an athlete alone makes the book worth reading. After all, I don't even like football.
March 3, 2023
“Carlisle vs. Army” is a sports thriller with so much passion and determination shown within the book. Lars Anderson uses a mix of events and time periods to get the reader hooked on. Native American wars and the early lives of the superstars are strong topics in this book. The lives of Jim Thorpe and Dwight Eisenhower are focus points. These two men were the superstars on their powerful football teams. Jim Thorpe played for the Carlisle Indian School while Dwight Eisenhower played for the Army/army cadets. The way Lars Anderson starts the book with the main event of the football match against these two powerhouses was a smart move. He then turns away slowly from the match as he introduces the early lives of our main characters. You yourself can feel the emotions that the Indian players have when they are about to face the Army. They think back to the history and all the hardships that had come following up to this very day. They recall the lives that the generation before them had to live and how they must’ve felt. All of these factors combine and it brings the intensity up by so many levels. All this is brought to mind before the game has even begun. That’s where I feel as though Lars Anderson did an incredible job. The climax and the ending of the book will make you appreciate yourself for reading the book. It is a great piece and I recommend reading it.
January 13, 2024
A must read for anyone with an appreciation of football!
December 28, 2024
This is a magnificent work, both for the research behind it, the clear prose, and the unique connections among three people whom I never new were connected. It is nominally about football, but it is so much more than that because football was just coming of age in our late 19th century and into the 20th. American culture regarding Native Americans was growing beyond the stories of the Plains Indian wars too.
The Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania was established through the energetic lobbying and public speaking about the merits of having a school where Indian could get a first class education and be trained in the ways of the white man. His extensive experience with the military 's dealing with Indians during the Plains Wars told him that making Indians into farmers would fail as a policy for their thriving.
If there were Indians who were fluent in the ways of the white man, they could better represent themselves and their interests, be it in Congress or in the other halls of power. Like a military academy, the young men would be trained to be strong and physically fit. In 1891, Carlisle opened in an abandoned Army barracks, and Pratt had obtained initial funding from Congress.
Meanwhile. Americans were trying to adapt the English game of rugby to American culture and tastes. East coast schools like West Point, Annapolis, Yale, Harvard and Pennsylvania were taking the lead in developing rules, changing the size and shape of the rugby ball and the like. They also began staging competitions among the schools, which attracted parents, alumni and fans from the community. There was money to be made by the schools, and the schools which wanted to excel broughti n dedicated coaches, like Pop Warner. I played youth football in New York, and certain leagues were called Pop Warner Football. I never knew he had any connection to Jim Thorpe.
Jim Thorpe was born of an ill-tempered Irish father and an Indian mother. Pop Warner became his coach, surrogate father, mentor and support throughout his life of emotional, physical and psychological ups and downs. The book's rich descriptions of football games makes the reader feel both how intense these games were. Since football was evolving, the initial set of rules and the primitive protection were inadequate to protect the players. Some players actually died in these early games, until certain requirements were made regarding numbers of players on the line, their spacing, and outlawing of high-low double team tackles.
Jim Thorpe was the greatest player, acknowledged by those players, coaches and fans who played against him; even in defeats of great leaders like Harvard and Penn, he would always get applauded going off the field at away games.
Meanwhile, a young Dwight Eisenhower was growing up in Abilene, Kansas which existed mainly because cattle from Texas were driven up to Abilene for the large stockyards, trading market, and proximity to a railhead. I knew the Dwight Eisenhower who was Supreme Allied Commander of European forces in World War II. Operation Overlord was the code name for the invasion of Normandy from the sea. General Eisenhower was the sole person who could have called it off on a rainy, fog filled morning, but he decided the forces should go, and history was changed. I also know Dwight Eisenhower as the President of Columbia University, my alma mater. I never knew he had any connection to cattle country or to football and Jim Thorpe. Thanks to author Lars Anderson, I do now.
Eisenhower idolized Wild Bill Hickock, who was the famous Marshal of Abilene, KS. Growing up on the poorer side of town, he and his folks were all despised by their rich confreres. Every year there was a bare knuckles fist fight until submission or knockout, between champions from both sides of town. Ike represented the yokels. Though relatively short and scrawny at this age, Ike and his opponent fought for hours, until a draw was declared. Ike was driven by anger and rage at those who looked down on him. In some ways, these same emotions drove Jim Thorpe.
Ike, through a long, circuitous journey through government politics, Eisenhower won admission to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Ike played football, and he captained the squad and was their leader who wouldn't allow anyone to even think about anything less than a victory each game.
Of course, the climactic game in the book is between Carlisle and Army. Eisenhower do everything in the book and outside of the book to cripple Thorpe, and even with a significant injury, he comes back, and Carlisle wins their biggest game. The Indians have beaten the white men at their own game.
After finishing his eligibility for the collegiate game, Thorpe plays some semi-pro baseball, and he is a pro player, but not at the level of his football skills. Ike goes on with his military career and a persistent knee problem keeps him out of athletics.
In a story which could be a book of his own, Thorpe sees track and field athletes around an outdoor field. He runs some hurdles easily, on his own; he also throws a shot just by watching others. Thorpe makes the 1912 U.S. Olympic team, some 200 plus in the delegation, for the Stockholm Summer Games. Jim Thorpe wins the Olympic decathlon, beating the highly favored European champion, and then goes on to win the Olympic pentathlon in the same Olympics. His overall strength across many events, from an untrained athlete, was historic. The King of Sweden, presenting him with his medal, whispered in his ear that, in his opinion, Thorpe was the best athlete at the games.
Thorpe has his personal issues and health problems, later in his life. He has a sudden, second heart attack and dies in the arms of his wife. General Dwight David Eisenhower sends a personal letter to his family citing Jim Thorpe as an exemplary American, who will be missed by all.
The reader has come along way from Oklahoma and Kansas, and it's a great story to read.
The Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania was established through the energetic lobbying and public speaking about the merits of having a school where Indian could get a first class education and be trained in the ways of the white man. His extensive experience with the military 's dealing with Indians during the Plains Wars told him that making Indians into farmers would fail as a policy for their thriving.
If there were Indians who were fluent in the ways of the white man, they could better represent themselves and their interests, be it in Congress or in the other halls of power. Like a military academy, the young men would be trained to be strong and physically fit. In 1891, Carlisle opened in an abandoned Army barracks, and Pratt had obtained initial funding from Congress.
Meanwhile. Americans were trying to adapt the English game of rugby to American culture and tastes. East coast schools like West Point, Annapolis, Yale, Harvard and Pennsylvania were taking the lead in developing rules, changing the size and shape of the rugby ball and the like. They also began staging competitions among the schools, which attracted parents, alumni and fans from the community. There was money to be made by the schools, and the schools which wanted to excel broughti n dedicated coaches, like Pop Warner. I played youth football in New York, and certain leagues were called Pop Warner Football. I never knew he had any connection to Jim Thorpe.
Jim Thorpe was born of an ill-tempered Irish father and an Indian mother. Pop Warner became his coach, surrogate father, mentor and support throughout his life of emotional, physical and psychological ups and downs. The book's rich descriptions of football games makes the reader feel both how intense these games were. Since football was evolving, the initial set of rules and the primitive protection were inadequate to protect the players. Some players actually died in these early games, until certain requirements were made regarding numbers of players on the line, their spacing, and outlawing of high-low double team tackles.
Jim Thorpe was the greatest player, acknowledged by those players, coaches and fans who played against him; even in defeats of great leaders like Harvard and Penn, he would always get applauded going off the field at away games.
Meanwhile, a young Dwight Eisenhower was growing up in Abilene, Kansas which existed mainly because cattle from Texas were driven up to Abilene for the large stockyards, trading market, and proximity to a railhead. I knew the Dwight Eisenhower who was Supreme Allied Commander of European forces in World War II. Operation Overlord was the code name for the invasion of Normandy from the sea. General Eisenhower was the sole person who could have called it off on a rainy, fog filled morning, but he decided the forces should go, and history was changed. I also know Dwight Eisenhower as the President of Columbia University, my alma mater. I never knew he had any connection to cattle country or to football and Jim Thorpe. Thanks to author Lars Anderson, I do now.
Eisenhower idolized Wild Bill Hickock, who was the famous Marshal of Abilene, KS. Growing up on the poorer side of town, he and his folks were all despised by their rich confreres. Every year there was a bare knuckles fist fight until submission or knockout, between champions from both sides of town. Ike represented the yokels. Though relatively short and scrawny at this age, Ike and his opponent fought for hours, until a draw was declared. Ike was driven by anger and rage at those who looked down on him. In some ways, these same emotions drove Jim Thorpe.
Ike, through a long, circuitous journey through government politics, Eisenhower won admission to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Ike played football, and he captained the squad and was their leader who wouldn't allow anyone to even think about anything less than a victory each game.
Of course, the climactic game in the book is between Carlisle and Army. Eisenhower do everything in the book and outside of the book to cripple Thorpe, and even with a significant injury, he comes back, and Carlisle wins their biggest game. The Indians have beaten the white men at their own game.
After finishing his eligibility for the collegiate game, Thorpe plays some semi-pro baseball, and he is a pro player, but not at the level of his football skills. Ike goes on with his military career and a persistent knee problem keeps him out of athletics.
In a story which could be a book of his own, Thorpe sees track and field athletes around an outdoor field. He runs some hurdles easily, on his own; he also throws a shot just by watching others. Thorpe makes the 1912 U.S. Olympic team, some 200 plus in the delegation, for the Stockholm Summer Games. Jim Thorpe wins the Olympic decathlon, beating the highly favored European champion, and then goes on to win the Olympic pentathlon in the same Olympics. His overall strength across many events, from an untrained athlete, was historic. The King of Sweden, presenting him with his medal, whispered in his ear that, in his opinion, Thorpe was the best athlete at the games.
Thorpe has his personal issues and health problems, later in his life. He has a sudden, second heart attack and dies in the arms of his wife. General Dwight David Eisenhower sends a personal letter to his family citing Jim Thorpe as an exemplary American, who will be missed by all.
The reader has come along way from Oklahoma and Kansas, and it's a great story to read.
January 23, 2010
Very entertaining book about the early days of college football--much different than the modern game of today. By early days I mean the early 20th century up to a game played between the Carlisle Indian School and Army in 1912. Carlisle had a star athlete from Oklahoma by the name of Jim Thorpe; Army had Dwight Eisenhower; Carlisle coach was Pop Warner.
The book is a great combination of sport history, suspense and description of what it was like for Natives at this time culturally. By the end when the game actually occurs I was rooting very hard for Carlisle to beat Army and beat them roundly. Before the game, Warner delivers maybe one of the all-time pregame speeches to the Carlisle players--urging them to remember that these Army players may be related to the soldiers who killed relatives of theirs! It doesn't get any more intense than that.
Great book if you are into sport history, Thorpe/Eisenhower, Indian culture...
The book is a great combination of sport history, suspense and description of what it was like for Natives at this time culturally. By the end when the game actually occurs I was rooting very hard for Carlisle to beat Army and beat them roundly. Before the game, Warner delivers maybe one of the all-time pregame speeches to the Carlisle players--urging them to remember that these Army players may be related to the soldiers who killed relatives of theirs! It doesn't get any more intense than that.
Great book if you are into sport history, Thorpe/Eisenhower, Indian culture...
February 1, 2011
A book about a football game that is about far more than a football game.
In the early 20th Century, the traditional College Football powers were in the Northeast part of the country. Army aspired to that level of greatness, and so did the Carlisle Indian School. This book traces the lives of three Legends, Pop Warner, Jim Thorpe and Dwight Eisenhower. Decent, yet hardly deep and resonate biographies of each man are presented, along with a nice historical overview of College Football through 1912, the development of the game, Carlisle's beginnings and its rise to football prominence and the Army team as well.
The book reads in places like a novel, you forget you're reading 'history' and it sparkles in places. It's a fascinating book, looking at a part of history that is not often talked about, three men who are barely remembered as mortals but icons and a game that was one of the biggest at the time and place. A book of Legends that needed to be written.
Recommended.
In the early 20th Century, the traditional College Football powers were in the Northeast part of the country. Army aspired to that level of greatness, and so did the Carlisle Indian School. This book traces the lives of three Legends, Pop Warner, Jim Thorpe and Dwight Eisenhower. Decent, yet hardly deep and resonate biographies of each man are presented, along with a nice historical overview of College Football through 1912, the development of the game, Carlisle's beginnings and its rise to football prominence and the Army team as well.
The book reads in places like a novel, you forget you're reading 'history' and it sparkles in places. It's a fascinating book, looking at a part of history that is not often talked about, three men who are barely remembered as mortals but icons and a game that was one of the biggest at the time and place. A book of Legends that needed to be written.
Recommended.
July 29, 2016
This book is more fiction than fact...and lots of hype. It is pitted with errors, small and large. This game was never "football's greatest battle" and it was simply a coincidence that Eisenhower and Thorpe played against each other. I am not convinced that the Carlisle Indians were trying to get even with "whites," especially descendants of Army cavalry attending West Point. I am also not convinced that Eisenhower was so obsessed with taking Thorpe out of the game by physically injuring him. Eisenhower, Thorpe, and Warner are fascinating people and one would be better advised reading authoritative biographies of them by historians, not journalists.
June 6, 2018
On the 74th anniversary of D-Day, here’s ‘Carlisle vs. Army: Jim Thorpe, Dwight Eisenhower, Pop Warner, and the Forgotten Story of Football's Greatest Battle,’ by Lars Anderson (368 pp).
That these three legends all converged on the gridiron - “on the fields of friendly strife” - in 1912 makes for a great read. In those halcyon days of early football, here’s a couple of points about each one of these men:
1. “Coach” Pop Warner invented the single and double wing formations, the three-point stance, and modern blocking techniques. He introduced the trap run, the bootleg, the naked reverse, and the screen pass. He was among the first to use the huddle, the spiral pass and the spiral punt. He also inspired generations of Pop Warner Youth Football Leagues. Of significance to this story, Warner helped countless Indian children to integrate into society (post-Wounded Knee) at the Carlisle School, founded for such purposes. He recruited Thorpe, a member of the Sac and Fox Tribe of Oklahoma, to join him at Carlisle, a perennial football contender.
2. A 20th century poll of Americans ranked Thorpe as the greatest athlete of all-time, outpolling even Babe Ruth by a margin of 2-to-1. Earlier, in 1912, Thorpe won Summer Olympic gold medals in both the pentathlon and decathlon. Anecdotally, one evening, at the games, fellow athletes challenged each other to vertically jump to touch a chandelier that was 13’ off the ground. Thorpe was the only one that could do it. He also competed in baseball, lacrosse and even ballroom dancing, winning the 1912 intercollegiate ballroom dancing championship.
3. We know Eisenhower as WWII’s Supreme Allied Commander, the architect of D-Day, and the 34th President of the United States; however, he was also a menace on the football field as a cadet at West Point, in arguably the moment famous class of 1915. In the book’s climactic ending, Thorpe and Eisenhower would battle each other in the fall of 1912. Pop Warner’s battle cry to his Carlisle Indians: “these cadets are the sons of the men that massacred your ancestors at Wounded Knee!” Ike, the linebacker, ultimately faced off on the running back, Thorpe. With a wee bit of hellion in him, Ike hoped to hit Thorpe vicious enough to take the Olympic legend out of the game. When the big hit finally came, Thorpe would be the last one standing, and an injured Ike would never play a single down again. And where, you might ask, was Ike raised? On the American frontier, playing Cowboys and Indians. Suffice it to say that he was always a Cowboy in those make-believe games. Payback. And now you know the rest of the story.
Truth is stranger than fiction, and certainly more compelling.
That these three legends all converged on the gridiron - “on the fields of friendly strife” - in 1912 makes for a great read. In those halcyon days of early football, here’s a couple of points about each one of these men:
1. “Coach” Pop Warner invented the single and double wing formations, the three-point stance, and modern blocking techniques. He introduced the trap run, the bootleg, the naked reverse, and the screen pass. He was among the first to use the huddle, the spiral pass and the spiral punt. He also inspired generations of Pop Warner Youth Football Leagues. Of significance to this story, Warner helped countless Indian children to integrate into society (post-Wounded Knee) at the Carlisle School, founded for such purposes. He recruited Thorpe, a member of the Sac and Fox Tribe of Oklahoma, to join him at Carlisle, a perennial football contender.
2. A 20th century poll of Americans ranked Thorpe as the greatest athlete of all-time, outpolling even Babe Ruth by a margin of 2-to-1. Earlier, in 1912, Thorpe won Summer Olympic gold medals in both the pentathlon and decathlon. Anecdotally, one evening, at the games, fellow athletes challenged each other to vertically jump to touch a chandelier that was 13’ off the ground. Thorpe was the only one that could do it. He also competed in baseball, lacrosse and even ballroom dancing, winning the 1912 intercollegiate ballroom dancing championship.
3. We know Eisenhower as WWII’s Supreme Allied Commander, the architect of D-Day, and the 34th President of the United States; however, he was also a menace on the football field as a cadet at West Point, in arguably the moment famous class of 1915. In the book’s climactic ending, Thorpe and Eisenhower would battle each other in the fall of 1912. Pop Warner’s battle cry to his Carlisle Indians: “these cadets are the sons of the men that massacred your ancestors at Wounded Knee!” Ike, the linebacker, ultimately faced off on the running back, Thorpe. With a wee bit of hellion in him, Ike hoped to hit Thorpe vicious enough to take the Olympic legend out of the game. When the big hit finally came, Thorpe would be the last one standing, and an injured Ike would never play a single down again. And where, you might ask, was Ike raised? On the American frontier, playing Cowboys and Indians. Suffice it to say that he was always a Cowboy in those make-believe games. Payback. And now you know the rest of the story.
Truth is stranger than fiction, and certainly more compelling.
May 28, 2020
I loved Jim Thorpe stories growing up. I still have a kid-biography of him. So I knew about this game, and have always been a little interested in the details of the Carlisle Indian School and why it went away (spoiler: because it was terrible, and OH MAN IS IT GOOD THAT IT IS GONE).
I appreciated Anderson's details about the Carlisle School, and about Pop Warner's time there. Why was Carlisle so good? Warner was able to recruit from Indian reservations nationwide, and the administration used the spectacle of the football team to pay for the school. The players got special dorms and food, special rules, and, in those days of blurred lines, a lot of eligibility. Carlisle was a high school as well as a college, it sent its students out to do menial work, then held their wages until a graduation that few students saw, exposed young people already susceptible to tuberculosis for crowded cross-country train rides and close quarters, and buried an astonishing number of youth who matriculated, all in the name of "civilizing" them.
Anderson falls into reliance on unreliable narrators a little bit too much for me--he repeats the classic story that the Indian players were lazy and unmotivated in the rain, which is pretty obvious as a racist trope, particularly when he goes to lengths to point out that the team was pretty undersized and relied on speed and high-finesse plays, rather than the classic ground and pound.
The mechanics of elite football in those days were fascinating--Harvard getting a naval officer assigned to coach their football team, while not really surprising, was a keen reminder of the old boy network in full effect.
The biography of Eisenhower was fairly interesting, though well-played.
The book really bogged down as it got into the season. I think it was probably important to document it all, but it was work to get through the Army and Carlisle games leading up to the big game.
Overall, I think Anderson's really done a service by documenting how terrible the Carlisle school was and how bankrupt the entire movement was, and I liked some of the smaller details (like how Thorpe's amateur status gets to be a story). The slog of the football details can probably safely be skipped by all but the most dedicated old timey football fans.
I appreciated Anderson's details about the Carlisle School, and about Pop Warner's time there. Why was Carlisle so good? Warner was able to recruit from Indian reservations nationwide, and the administration used the spectacle of the football team to pay for the school. The players got special dorms and food, special rules, and, in those days of blurred lines, a lot of eligibility. Carlisle was a high school as well as a college, it sent its students out to do menial work, then held their wages until a graduation that few students saw, exposed young people already susceptible to tuberculosis for crowded cross-country train rides and close quarters, and buried an astonishing number of youth who matriculated, all in the name of "civilizing" them.
Anderson falls into reliance on unreliable narrators a little bit too much for me--he repeats the classic story that the Indian players were lazy and unmotivated in the rain, which is pretty obvious as a racist trope, particularly when he goes to lengths to point out that the team was pretty undersized and relied on speed and high-finesse plays, rather than the classic ground and pound.
The mechanics of elite football in those days were fascinating--Harvard getting a naval officer assigned to coach their football team, while not really surprising, was a keen reminder of the old boy network in full effect.
The biography of Eisenhower was fairly interesting, though well-played.
The book really bogged down as it got into the season. I think it was probably important to document it all, but it was work to get through the Army and Carlisle games leading up to the big game.
Overall, I think Anderson's really done a service by documenting how terrible the Carlisle school was and how bankrupt the entire movement was, and I liked some of the smaller details (like how Thorpe's amateur status gets to be a story). The slog of the football details can probably safely be skipped by all but the most dedicated old timey football fans.
February 2, 2018
There's no half star available on the rating scale here - I'd really put this book around 3.5 stars.
I liked this book and the slice of history it represents. One of my favorite parts of this book is the way it ties together the other things that were happening at the time when the game in question was set to go off. Historic context is very important. It's also fascinating to draw parallels to things that still happen today, around 100 years later.
I did struggle with the way the story flow of the book was chopped up. The author went backward and forward across the time line even in the same chapter and more than once it pushed me out of my momentum so it took longer to read than it might have otherwise.
I find this book more interesting based on the simple fact that I, and my parents and my sisters family, live very near where these things took place. When I mentioned this book or folks in this area saw the cover they generally had some knowledge already about the famous Jim Thorpe. There is a lingering sense of pride even after those same 100 years and all the related issues.
IF you happen to be near the central Pennsylvania area you will find this book of interest. Some of the places mentioned are still around. If you're a fan of football as it is played today, it is worth digging into this story to get a sense of why the game is what it is and how we've landed where we are. I've heard other versions of Pop Warner's story, not in connection with Jim Thorpe and it interests me to see the contrasts. A different view point is always good to have. I Recommend this book based on those particulars.
I liked this book and the slice of history it represents. One of my favorite parts of this book is the way it ties together the other things that were happening at the time when the game in question was set to go off. Historic context is very important. It's also fascinating to draw parallels to things that still happen today, around 100 years later.
I did struggle with the way the story flow of the book was chopped up. The author went backward and forward across the time line even in the same chapter and more than once it pushed me out of my momentum so it took longer to read than it might have otherwise.
I find this book more interesting based on the simple fact that I, and my parents and my sisters family, live very near where these things took place. When I mentioned this book or folks in this area saw the cover they generally had some knowledge already about the famous Jim Thorpe. There is a lingering sense of pride even after those same 100 years and all the related issues.
IF you happen to be near the central Pennsylvania area you will find this book of interest. Some of the places mentioned are still around. If you're a fan of football as it is played today, it is worth digging into this story to get a sense of why the game is what it is and how we've landed where we are. I've heard other versions of Pop Warner's story, not in connection with Jim Thorpe and it interests me to see the contrasts. A different view point is always good to have. I Recommend this book based on those particulars.
September 14, 2024
I am not a sports fan and sitting watching football or other sport games is not my thing. I'm a people person and a doer so a book about sports, plays, tactics is not something I would even consider picking up. This book was loaned to me by a BDG member; it sat on my TBR pile for a long while. I decided to tackle it head on, no pun intended. While I was bored to tears reading about the game plays and strategy I was spellbound reading how Pop Warner's vision and passion was born and came to fruition. I also suspect it wasn't as smooth or easy an accomplishment as the book left me with. I loved reading about the Indian School's development, the challenges and stereotypes to be overcome, and about that time period in our history. I did think the transition from Indian reservation to Americanization of the students was glossed over a bit too much. Minimizing that element of the real story blurs the true understanding and picture of the traumatic impact such a transition was for these children. However, since the focus of the book was the 'Forgotten Story of Football's Greatest Battle' it did make sense to just mention some of that and move on. I thought the book portrayed Pop Warner as very insightful which led to agreeing to having football as an outlet for the boys frustration with their new life. All in all I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the book and depth the author gave to the characters. I saw a new side to Ike, learned a lot about Pop Warner and the legendary Jim Thorpe.
April 11, 2019
Carlisle vs. Army is not the kind of book I normally go for. But it is a book I enjoyed
It is about three larger than life men from the early 20th Century – Dwight Eisenhower, Jim Thorpe, and ‘Pop’ Warner – and the road each one took that led to their crossing paths. It is part biography, part history, part sports story, and part comment on the mores and ethos of that time.
Anderson cites many newspaper articles written about Jim Thorpe and Dwight Eisenhower. Those articles are sometimes laughably hilarious with their over-the-top purple prose. Anderson jumps on that bandwagon from time to time with lines like ‘Warner watched as Thorpe hit the mark, then took off, ejecting into the air.’ and ‘Warner smashed his large hands together in a joyous clap.’
There is one glaring error near the end of the book. Anderson talks about Eisenhower pacing restlessly at 3:30 in the morning of June 6 while debating whether to give the go-ahead for the D-Day invasion. By that time, American and British paratroopers were on the ground in France (having jumped shortly after midnight) and fighting to seize their objectives. So, Eisenhower’s pacing had to be done on June 5th.
If you’re a sports fan, a history fan, or interested in any of these men, this book is 1well worth reading.
It is about three larger than life men from the early 20th Century – Dwight Eisenhower, Jim Thorpe, and ‘Pop’ Warner – and the road each one took that led to their crossing paths. It is part biography, part history, part sports story, and part comment on the mores and ethos of that time.
Anderson cites many newspaper articles written about Jim Thorpe and Dwight Eisenhower. Those articles are sometimes laughably hilarious with their over-the-top purple prose. Anderson jumps on that bandwagon from time to time with lines like ‘Warner watched as Thorpe hit the mark, then took off, ejecting into the air.’ and ‘Warner smashed his large hands together in a joyous clap.’
There is one glaring error near the end of the book. Anderson talks about Eisenhower pacing restlessly at 3:30 in the morning of June 6 while debating whether to give the go-ahead for the D-Day invasion. By that time, American and British paratroopers were on the ground in France (having jumped shortly after midnight) and fighting to seize their objectives. So, Eisenhower’s pacing had to be done on June 5th.
If you’re a sports fan, a history fan, or interested in any of these men, this book is 1well worth reading.
July 8, 2018
This book has at least 5 wonderful aspects- all great. The first describes how beginning in the 1880’s Indian were encouraged to attend schools that would integrate them into white society. The second consists of 3 wonderful biographies, all told at the same time- that of Jim Thorpe, the great Indian Olympic champion and football player, Eisenhower, and Pop Warner, the imaginative coach of the Carlisle Indians who revolutionized football. The fourth aspect is the development of football from a sport which was transformed by Warner into what we know it today and finally, the fifth aspect- the football game between Army and Carlisle. That Thorpe was a great athlete was generally well known and his story and exploits are recounted in great detail. What most will not know is that Eisenhower was a determined football player who overcame great odds to play for West Point and whose football ambitions were dashed after he injured in the game against Carlisle. We also learn how clever and relentless Warner was in pursuing excellence, particularly for his Indians at Carlisle and what a master of deception he was in creating imaginative plays on the football field.
November 18, 2024
I went into this book knowing very little about Thorpe, Eisenhower, or Warner. Even with this lack of a foundation for the subject matter, I found Carlisle vs. Army the most engrossing nonfiction book I've read in years. Anderson hops back and forth in time in order to inform the reader of relevant events in the earlier and later lives of the three main characters, but manages to simultaneously keep the tension of leading up to the titular game. Warner is Thorpe's coach, and the two are close, while Eisenhower is only peripherally related, but the narrative effectively places Thorpe as an important figure in football-crazed Eisenhower's young life. It also brings forth some interesting parallels (and divergences) in their lives. The book gets at the fraught but complex role of the Carlisle Indian School, and others like it, in American history, while covering the development of modern American football, with a splash of politics and WWII history. I'd recommend this to anyone with any interest in any of these topics. I also think this would be great material for a film.
March 25, 2018
Just Finished Carlisle Vs. Army: Jim Thorpe, Dwight Eisenhower, Pop Warner, and the Forgotten Story of Football’s Greatest Battle by Lars Anderson. Long before he was a general and president, Ike was a hard-hitting linebacker and running back. This is the story of an epic football game in 1912 between The Carlisle Indian School and West Point, two of the football powerhouses in the early history of collegiate football.The prominent youth football league we know was named for Pop Warner who was a legendary coach of that time. Jim Thorpe was maybe the best all-around athlete in US history. He won a gold medal in the pentathlon and decathlon in the 1912 Olympics. Football was so dangerous in this era that Teddy Roosevelt called a White House meeting in 1905 after 20 players died that year. Teddy’s son was seriously injured while playing for Harvard in 1905 which gave him a personal interest. An early picture of football's safety concerns
February 25, 2018
This book is very well researched, presented, arranged and composed. The subject is compelling: The crossing paths of three extraordinary men of the 20th Century. Dwight Eisenhower, Jim Thorpe and Pop Warner. The writing could be better, in the recreation of some of the scenes, it too often conveys a tone of false drama, but the characters are what hold your attention throughout the book.
Some of the facts revealed about football itself were remarkable, and I’m quite the football fan. The author could have included more detail on the evolution of football, which Pop Warner, as much or more than anyone else, helped to bring about. It would have served the author well if he had provided some kind of table to illustrate the rules changes along side Pop Warner’s and Jim Thorpe’s career path.
Still, it's a competent exploration of a specific slice of American history.
Some of the facts revealed about football itself were remarkable, and I’m quite the football fan. The author could have included more detail on the evolution of football, which Pop Warner, as much or more than anyone else, helped to bring about. It would have served the author well if he had provided some kind of table to illustrate the rules changes along side Pop Warner’s and Jim Thorpe’s career path.
Still, it's a competent exploration of a specific slice of American history.
August 16, 2019
I decided to give this book an extra star because the storytelling was so good. However, this is a work of "non-fiction" and Anderson fudges many details, so I've heard, to make a good story. His claims of the players' and coaches' motivations were speculative at best. Still, one could also say that it would be a five-star book if there was no embellishment, and that would be absolutely true. In terms of content, it gave a good overview of an influential football game played over a hundred years ago (whose participants still have ramifications on the modern game). I liked the fact Anderson tells the entire history of what happened not just in the days preceding it, but in the years preceding it. I just wish he focused on the details of what happened and not also how he felt it should have happened. Maybe the book should have been half as long.
September 24, 2023
A thought-provoking narrative of the early days of football. While it's incredible how much the game of football has evolved, it's intriguing how, in 110 years, some things haven't changed: Athletes don't have to play by the same rules as other students; an abusive coach is held in high esteem because he wins; a mediocre white guy can go on to greatness; and one of the greatest athletes to ever roam the Earth ends up on the margins due to prejudice. (It's also amusing that Teddy Roosevelt wanted Congress to ban the sport when he was POTUS.)
This book is a captivating glimpse of football and America at the dawn of the 20th Century. And be warned, you WILL become fans of Carlisle and find yourself rooting for them through the end.
This book is a captivating glimpse of football and America at the dawn of the 20th Century. And be warned, you WILL become fans of Carlisle and find yourself rooting for them through the end.
July 17, 2019
This book tells some of the same story as Sally Jenkins' "The Real All-Americans," but this one focuses on the rivalry between The US Military Academy's football team and that of Carlisle Academy. This was a chance for the Native Americans, whose last encounters with the US Army had ended in tragedy, humiliation and a loss of their previous way of life, to gain some measure of revenge. Meanwhile, the cadtes were a proud, ambitious group of overacievers themselves, led by none other than Dwight Eisenhower. Really an interesting read and an inisightful glimpse into an important piece of American history.
February 10, 2023
A student of football and of American history (with a special interest in the West), I learned a lot about both from this very entertaining book. I was also reminded of the shameful attitudes that white Americans harbored, and still harbor, toward minorities. In a society that still tilts upward for too many -- when will we ever learn? -- athletics offer a more level playing field. I found myself hoping throughout the book that in the climactic showdown at West Point, the Indians would take down the Cadets. I'm not going to spoil it for you, and don't you dare look ahead.
April 11, 2023
If you’re a fan of any of these 3 sports legends, you’ll want to read this. For me, it was a trifecta as I’m a West Pointer and grew up idolizing all of them. Anderson does a great deal of research to portray their early years, struggles, triumphs, disappointments, and ultimate victories. You can see yourself in each of their stories. It’s amazing how this one moment in each of their personal histories — unnoticed by most others — left an indelible and defining moment for them in different ways.
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March 16, 2021The book is a great combination of sport history, suspense and description of what it was like for Natives at this time culturally. By the end of the book you learn about the main character Jim and how his life was as a Native. This book is more about Native Living than it is football. The character Jim talked about his struggles of being a native football player. I recommend this book for people who are looking to learn about Native living and football at the same time.
April 26, 2025
Probably more of a 3.5 rating. I liked the author’s style of writing and really enjoyed the backgrounds on the major characters. However, for me the book bogged down in the minute descriptions of so many games. I also wanted more at the end of the book than he gave about what happened to these men. Overall I did like the book, and it may actually prod me to get full biographies on Thorpe, Eisenhower, and Warner.
June 15, 2017
I got this book the year it was published. I was preteen who loved football and history. I had moved to Carlisle after my father had retired from the military. The combination of the topics of this book seemed perfect for me. I remember enjoying this book when I was younger as read about the skillful Jim Thorpe and the genius Pop Warner.
January 19, 2021
It's a wonderful book, an easy read combining sports, history and biography ... The space dedicated to Pop Warner and the Carlisle Indian School itself is a revelation; and the book proves that our passion for football cannot be separated from the fabric of our nation ... Anderson is great at telling these kinds of stories
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February 23, 2023I don't know how to rate this book. There are a lot of historical facts and statistics. The convergent stories mostly pulled me along even though I don't care much about football. But this is an example of a book that could no longer be published. It's a white narrative about Jim Thorpe (Sac and Fox Nation) without the full historical context.
August 4, 2021
It was good but much to long. The author went through every football game. 80% of the book is about Thorpe and not much about Ike and Army. I learned a lot of interesting but of football history and Indian history but the book could have summarized the story in 200 pages
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