Randy Roberts - Rising Tide: Bear Bryant, Joe Namath, and Dixies Last Quarter

[Bryant and Namaths] years together fueled the growing popularity of college football and coincided with the unfolding of the civil rights struggle that emerged as the defining news story of the early 1960s. RISING TIDE weaves the two elements in an informative and entertaining narrative with broad appeal.

Associated Press

RISING TIDE reads like an ESPN documentary but packs ten times the information and entertainment value. Its accessible but intelligent prose and deep-probing insights keep interest high throughout its chapters. Football, its impact, events, and mannerisms are flawlessly interwoven with the tumultuous recounts of a politically, socially, and racially evolving South a fabulous football book.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A lively, highly readable account of two iconic figures RISING TIDE aspires to be much more than another jock biography. It tells a fascinating story lying at the intersection of football, race, and entertainment Gridiron fans, particularly those of a certain age, will enjoy this trip down memory lane. So, too, will readers interested in revisiting a nation in transition.

Cleveland Plain Dealer

[Roberts and Krzemienski] tell a compelling story against a background of racial and political turmoil.

Dallas Morning News

I didnt think the world needed another Bear Bryant book, but this one digs a little deeper and blitzes me with new info. And to think a Purdue guy wrote it.

Dan Jenkins

The authors do such a colorfully thorough and yet unusually objective job of fly-on-the-wall storytelling about Joe Namaths shenanigans and Bear Bryants burdens, its a coin-flip: You might like these characters more than you did before, you might like them less.

Charleston Post and Courier (SC)

RISING TIDE is a riveting football story that doubles as first-rate, seminal historical investigation. Building the narrative around Coach Paul Bear Bryant and Joe Namath, the authors interweave early TV and civil rights into the fabric of their story with great grace. An absolutely wonderful read!

Douglas Brinkley, professor of history at Rice University and author of Cronkite

Riveting exceedingly well-researched and portrayed Roberts and Krzemienski present a fine profile of Bryant and offer the best treatment of the pre-professional Namath yet printed.

Library Journal (starred review)

An absolute gem of a book about the twin pillars of white Southern identity: racial segregation and football RISING TIDE is an expertly written, must-read story of the intersection of athletics and politics.

Gerald Early, author of A Level Playing Field and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for The Culture of Bruising

The authors deliver three-dimensional portraits of both men.

Booklist

A must-read! RISING TIDE is an electrifying book that hits on all four cylinders: rich Alabama football tradition; North meets South; civil rights movement era; and Coach Bryants history-making return to his alma mater. The short and long of it: This book is just plain explosive!

John Mitchell, Pittsburgh Steelers assistant head coach and defensive line coach

RISING TIDE will be on the All Time Top Ten List for the Crimson Tide nation, but it is not just another fans book. Anyone who wants to understand the roots of college football as Big Business will learn from this account of the bond between its two gifted, charismatic, and flawed heroes. As an eyewitness to the Bear-and-Joe-Willie show, I can tell you that Randy Roberts and Ed Krzemienski got it right about how the Tide rolls.

Howell Raines, author and former executive editor of the New York Times

[This is] a cant-lay-it-down book. In evocative prose, Roberts and Krzemienski recapture the drama, glory, and shame of big-time college sports set in an era of social upheaval. You dont have to be a Crimson Tide fan to enjoy this great read.

George C. Rable, Charles Summersell Chair in Southern History, University of Alabama