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

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On the eve of World War II, with the Nazi flag fluttering over Wimbledon's Centre Court, America's tennis champion took on Germany's. One man played for his country, while the other, hounded by the Gestapo, played for his life. A third, perhaps the greatest player of them all, saw his own double life reflected in the contest.

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

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More About This Book

Overview

On the eve of World War II, with the Nazi flag fluttering over Wimbledon's Centre Court, America's tennis champion took on Germany's. One man played for his country, while the other, hounded by the Gestapo, played for his life. A third, perhaps the greatest player of them all, saw his own double life reflected in the contest.

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Editorial Reviews

Louis Bayard
Marshall Jon Fisher has gotten hold of some mighty themes in A Terrible Splendor: war and peace, love and death, sports and savagery. He's also taken on one hell of a tricky story. Even as he shows us Budge and Cramm battling away—and he describes the on-court action wonderfully well—he has to keep cutting away to show us the geopolitical forces gathering round them…Still, as the match enters its final set, all the narrative pieces lock together, and A Terrible Splendor becomes as engrossing as the contest it portrays.
—The Washington Post
The Barnes & Noble Review
Tennis superstars Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal may play for great stakes in their quest for Grand Slam glory, but even their epic battles can't compare to the pressure felt by America's Don Budge and Germany's Gottfried von Cramm in their 1937 Davis Cup match, the subject of Marshall Jon Fisher's absorbing new book. With World War II looming, their match found sports and politics intersecting on Wimbledon's Centre Court, but for the anti-Nazi von Cramm, the stakes were even higher: "I'm playing for my life... [The Nazis] won't touch me as long as I'm winning." Borrowing a technique from John McPhee's acclaimed Levels of the Game, Fisher weaves biographical information with both the ongoing drama of the match and the ever-darkening world political scene. The handsome, polished, homosexual von Cramm, an impeccable sportsman born to an aristocratic and wealthy German family, emerges as the most compelling figure in the book. Disdainful of the Nazis (he called Hitler "a housepainter"), he refused to join the Nazi party, no matter how intense the pressure. And intense it was. As the Nazi stranglehold on Germany crushed all dissent, the Gestapo monitored his activities, the tennis ace keeping out of jail only as long as he won matches. Shortly after his heroic loss to Budge at 8–6 in the fifth set, von Cramm was arrested, thrown into prison for a year, and sent to the Eastern Front. Despite winning the Iron Cross for bravery, von Cramm was dishonorably discharged because of his arrest by the Nazis on charges of immoral behavior. Solidly written and researched, Fisher's book is not without faults; repetition of tennis trivia and a plethora of speculative phrases diminish the solid underpinnings. Nonetheless Fisher's achievement is a substantial one, bringing alive a legendary match and, in von Cramm, a player of uncommon grace who, sensing his fate, could ironically only find peace and safety in the spotlight of Centre Court. --Tom Santopietro
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780307393944
  • Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
  • Publication date: 4/21/2009
  • Pages: 336
  • Product dimensions: 6.40 (w) x 9.30 (h) x 1.20 (d)

Meet the Author

MARSHALL JON FISHER’s work has appeared in The Atlantic, Harper’s, and other magazines. His essay "Memoria ex Machina" was featured in Best American Essays 2003. He has written several books with his father, David E. Fisher, including Tube: The Invention of Television. Marshall lives in the Berkshires with his wife

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Table of Contents

Author's Note xiii

First Set The Gentleman of Wimbledon 1

Second Set Appeasement 37

Third Set An American Twist 95

Fourth Set "I'm Playing for My Life" 153

Fifth Set No Man Living or Dead 189

Aftermatch Miracles of Redemption 225

Acknowledgments 269

Notes 272

Index 313

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Customer Reviews

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Sort by: Showing all of 7 Customer Reviews

  • Posted May 5, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    Wonerfully written, wonderfull story.

    The reader is transformed to the world of tennis and politics in the 1930's. They will get to know the stars of the tennis world they may never had heard of (von Cramm, Budge) and some they know (A 19 year old Bobby Riggs).

    Although the homosexual tendencies of the players gets mentioned, it's very minimal, but necessary, to show how those in power put their morals in the draw as long as they can draw benefits.

    One doesn't have to be a fan of the game of tennis to begin this book, but there is a very high probability that they will be in the gallery rooting for his favorite while reading.

    I give this book my highest recommendation. Very well done.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted September 9, 2009

    Excellent Tennis

    This book receives a 5 star due to the writer's excellent layout of this epic match and the political environment of the 30's. The writer builds each of the tennis icons and gives the reader insight into the U.S., Britain, and Germany. He does and excellent unbiased biography of a gay man and presents to the reader a Gottfried Von Cramm as a a great tennis champion he was. This book should be in the library of any tennis or sports enthusiast.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted January 19, 2012

    beautifully written and a treat for tennis fans

    a terrible splendor is a beautifully written book about a relatively obscure event occuring during a turbulent and horrific time. as others have written the book has less to do with tennis & more to do with the character of people during the davis cup matches of 1936. the book is a rewarding and worthwhile if read just for the writing, however tennis fans will find it a fascinating look at tennis from an era rarely seen

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