Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team

This book is a must read for any football fan...there were things in here I never knew concerning the origins of the game of football and how great an athlete Jim Thorpe was...really shows and brings to light some negatives as well as positives of American culture as well as some dark times in the nations history as it concerns how a whole culture of people were treated versus how they should have been treated at the turn of the 20th Century...well written book...reads like a tragedy...I highly recommend! You will learn something when you finish this book...I appreciate the authors research and honesty in the subject matter...

A book for fans of Seabiscuit. Even though it's written for high school kids who don't like reading - kids like Jim Thorpe - it will tell you more about the origins of modern football (e.g. the forward pass, the single wing, the motion back) in the late 1800's and early 1900's than any book you are likely to read. It's as much about coach Pop Warner as about the great Jim Thorpe, both of whom were wandering, battered souls much like the restless, hurt souls of the great Jockey (Red Pollard) and the great trainer (Tom Smith) in Seabiscuit.It's also a book about the horrors inflicted by whites on Native Americans in schools like the Carlisle Indian School - schools designed to "civilize" Indians by taking the Indian out of them and leaving with "employable" skills that proved useless when graduates found that employers wouldn't hire Indians, skilled or otherwise. Mainly, it's a book about how uprooted Native American students at the Carlisle school, coached by a man who motivated his players to use the game of football to even score of what whites had inflicted on their people, were able over the course of many arduous seasons to finally and decisively demonstrate their superior teamwork, endurance and athletic prowess to the condescending football elites of their time: Yale, Harvard, Princeton and Penn. Handsomely produced, beautifully illustrated, fully researched with exhaustive notes and bibliography, this book is rarity in modern day publishing. Has anyone purchased the movie rights for it?

I LOVED this book and definitely recommend it! It was fascinating, fast-paced, well written, informative, and enjoyable. I enjoyed reading about the early history of football, and loved the crazy plays that were possible as the game and rules evolved. It was so sad to read about those schools for Native Americans and the horrible way they were treated and stripped of their culture. In this way the book reminded me of Code Talkers, which I also really enjoyed.

Son don’t like to read but this held his interest

Excellent book. I was instantly drawn in and remained fully engaged throughout. It’s fair to say I could hardly put it down. It painted such a vivid portrait of Jim Thorpe and the other Carlisle Indian School Boys, at the same time it smashed through stereotypes as easily as Jim Thorpe himself ran through the line.

My son needed to pick a book for a report at school. He is REALLY into sports, and particularly football. He wanted to pick a sports book, so I encouraged him to find one on Jim Thorpe. He was reluctant, since he had never heard of Jim Thorpe. He read this book in five days and loved every minute of it. Hats off to Mr. Sheinkin for a well-researched book that is great reading for kids and adults alike. I'm so happy that my son now shares my admiration for this American sports legend.

General flow of the writing was terrific. Each chapter had a purpose and important story. You understand by the end of the book who Thorpe was,who Pop Warner was, and what the Carlisle Indians were all about. The NFL wouldn't be what it is without their journey.

Great book for my preteen son

Such an interesting story! This brought to light many things I didn't know about Jim Thorpe, but also the evolution of football, which was totally unexpected. Definitely recommend.