Kingdom on Fire: Kareem, Wooden, Walton, and the Turbulent Days of the UCLA Basketball Dynasty
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- Create Date：2024-03-06 13:22:08
- Update Date：2025-09-08
- Status：finish
- Author：Scott Howard-Cooper
- ISBN：1668020491
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Summary
In the tradition of Blood in the Garden and Three-Ring Circus comes a bold narrative history of the iconic UCLA Bruins championship teams led by legendary coach John Wooden—an incredible true story about the messy， never-easy pursuit of perfection set against the turmoil of American culture in the 1960s and 70s。
Few basketball dynasties have reigned supreme like the UCLA Bruins did over college basketball from 1965–1975 （seven consecutive titles， three perfect records， an eighty-eight-game winning streak that remains unmatched）。 At the center of this legendary franchise were the now-iconic players Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bill Walton， naturally reserved personalities who became outspoken giants when it came to race and the Vietnam War。 These generational talents were led by John Wooden， a conservative counterweight to his star players whose leadership skills would transcend the game after his retirement。 But before the three of them became history， they would have to make it—together。
Los Angeles native and longtime sportswriter for the Los Angeles Times ， Scott Howard Cooper draws on more than a hundred interviews and extensive access to many of the principal figures， including Wooden’s family to deliver a rich narrative that reveals the turmoil at the heart of this storied college basketball program。 Making the eye-opening connections between UCLA and the Nixon administration， Ronald Reagan， Muhammad Ali， and others， Kingdom on Fire puts the UCLA basketball team’s political involvement and influence in full relief for the first time。 The story of UCLA basketball is an incredible slice of American history that reveals what it truly takes to achieve and sustain greatness while standing up for what you believe in。
Few basketball dynasties have reigned supreme like the UCLA Bruins did over college basketball from 1965–1975 （seven consecutive titles， three perfect records， an eighty-eight-game winning streak that remains unmatched）。 At the center of this legendary franchise were the now-iconic players Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bill Walton， naturally reserved personalities who became outspoken giants when it came to race and the Vietnam War。 These generational talents were led by John Wooden， a conservative counterweight to his star players whose leadership skills would transcend the game after his retirement。 But before the three of them became history， they would have to make it—together。
Los Angeles native and longtime sportswriter for the Los Angeles Times ， Scott Howard Cooper draws on more than a hundred interviews and extensive access to many of the principal figures， including Wooden’s family to deliver a rich narrative that reveals the turmoil at the heart of this storied college basketball program。 Making the eye-opening connections between UCLA and the Nixon administration， Ronald Reagan， Muhammad Ali， and others， Kingdom on Fire puts the UCLA basketball team’s political involvement and influence in full relief for the first time。 The story of UCLA basketball is an incredible slice of American history that reveals what it truly takes to achieve and sustain greatness while standing up for what you believe in。
Reviews
Chad
，
I greatly enjoy college basketball。 This book is about the most dominant team in the history of college basketball。 UCLA won 7 NCAA titles in a row and 10 in 12 seasons in the 60s and 70s。 They had two of the best centers in NCAA history in Lew Alcinder and Bill Walton。 I do like how the book isn't all about college basketball。 In fact， a large portion of it isn't。 It's about how the players and John Wooden reacted to the civil unrest of the era， each of the 3 main characters had very different I greatly enjoy college basketball。 This book is about the most dominant team in the history of college basketball。 UCLA won 7 NCAA titles in a row and 10 in 12 seasons in the 60s and 70s。 They had two of the best centers in NCAA history in Lew Alcinder and Bill Walton。 I do like how the book isn't all about college basketball。 In fact， a large portion of it isn't。 It's about how the players and John Wooden reacted to the civil unrest of the era， each of the 3 main characters had very different attitudes and ways of looking at the social upheaval of the era。 I think that's a very overlooked factor of the era when it comes to sports and it greatly affected some players。 A very good read if you are into history or college basketball。 。。。more
Mark Hartman
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If your a fan of UCLA Basketball， Wooden， Walton， Kareem you will like this book。 It isn’t the best start， I’d prefer it started at beginning with Wooden becoming coach instead of focusing on Alcindor at the beginning。 It leaves out a huge chunk of Wooden’s coaching but covers all the ten championships in 12 years until Wooden retired。 You might like it being a Basketball fan。 There’s some skipping back and forth but not too bad。 Worth a read。
Joe
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I received a free advance copy of Kingdom on Fire from Atria Books。 For years I've been on the hunt for a book on the UCLA dynasty under John Wooden， trying to find one that dug into the details of the program， particularly when he had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar， née Lew Alcindor， and Bill Walton。 Having watched "The Luckiest Guy in the World"， the Bill Walton documentary on ESPN， I was very curious to see the perspective offered here on Walton's time， as well as Abdul-Jabbar's time， especially conside I received a free advance copy of Kingdom on Fire from Atria Books。 For years I've been on the hunt for a book on the UCLA dynasty under John Wooden， trying to find one that dug into the details of the program， particularly when he had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar， née Lew Alcindor， and Bill Walton。 Having watched "The Luckiest Guy in the World"， the Bill Walton documentary on ESPN， I was very curious to see the perspective offered here on Walton's time， as well as Abdul-Jabbar's time， especially considering their differences in personality。 One thing that is immediately apparent is the amount of research Scott Howard-Cooper put into this book。 There are lots of interesting tidbits， and there's a great deal of the day-to-day aspects of the program。 However， I feel that there's both too much and seemingly not enough research within the book。 There will be seemingly random asides of events that don't seem to have any bearing on the events happening within the book， either at the time the events were happening or in the future。 Other times， there's a surprising dearth of information on other events， such as Edgar Lacy leaving the team， there's a great deal of time spent， but seemingly not a lot of information on the actual events。 Whether this was a lack of people willing to talk about the issues or just a general lack of information， the event felt abrupt and disconnected from the rest of the text due to a lack of context。 This is something that happens throughout the book - events will feel disconnected from a lack of information or context， and then we move on。 Other times， we get more information than was necessary， without the additional information adding any coloring to the story。 While this is an uncorrected proof and can't be judged too harshly， there does seem to be times that the book could benefit from judicious editing - moving things around， eliminating run-on sentences that confuse and remove you from the narrative （which happen a surprising amount of the time）， etc。 Outside of that， the writing is solid if occasionally stilted。 Nothing exciting， but in a generally good way that keeps you focused on the story。 Very clearly the work of a newspaper reporter， and I mean that as a compliment。 The writer has removed themself from the story they're telling and we're left with the personalities of the three men at the center of the story - Wooden， Abdul-Jabbar， and Walton。 One of the things I liked， and wished there was more of， was Howard-Cooper connecting the chaos and "turbulent days" of the '60s and '70s with the staid presence of Wooden and UCLA。 Abdul-Jabbar and Walton were so involved with the world around them that it was fascinating to watch them fit themselves into the box that Wooden demanded of a UCLA player， while still witnessing how Wooden adapted to the differences in his superstar players。 Overall， I enjoyed this book。 I'd recommend it to fans of UCLA basketball and basketball fans in general。 Seeing Wooden in his element as a coach， rather than the gentle， grandfatherly figure he was in the last 30 years of his life was exciting， as was seeing Walton and Abdul-Jabbar up close as boys growing in to men。 There were parts of the book that I wished dove deeper， times when I wished that the author was more artful in his language， but in the end， it was a book that I'm glad I read。 In many ways， it read the way John Wooden （in the book） preferred his players - prepared， consistent， and not flashy。 。。。more
Jake
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I think I have already read the best nonfiction sports book of 2024。 Howard-Cooper did the heavy lifting with this one， interviewing tons of people on the record and digging deep into the confluence of sports， race and politics surrounding John Wooden's UCLA Bruins basketball program from 1965-1975。 Even knowing how each individual season ended did not spoil anything for me as I read the book。 Ideal for anyone with an interest in college basketball and late 20th Century American History。 Thank y I think I have already read the best nonfiction sports book of 2024。 Howard-Cooper did the heavy lifting with this one， interviewing tons of people on the record and digging deep into the confluence of sports， race and politics surrounding John Wooden's UCLA Bruins basketball program from 1965-1975。 Even knowing how each individual season ended did not spoil anything for me as I read the book。 Ideal for anyone with an interest in college basketball and late 20th Century American History。 Thank you to Atria Books and Simon & Schuster for the ARC。 。。。more
Tanner Olson
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Kingdom on Fire follows the college coaching career of John Wooden at UCLA through the 60s and 70s as he put together legendary championship runs in seven consecutive years with superstars Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bill Walton。 I came into this book having a fair to average amount of knowledge regarding John Wooden and the historical run of wins and championships that he managed to put together for the UCLA Bruins。 The amount of knowledge that I feel like I acquired after reading this book is vast Kingdom on Fire follows the college coaching career of John Wooden at UCLA through the 60s and 70s as he put together legendary championship runs in seven consecutive years with superstars Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bill Walton。 I came into this book having a fair to average amount of knowledge regarding John Wooden and the historical run of wins and championships that he managed to put together for the UCLA Bruins。 The amount of knowledge that I feel like I acquired after reading this book is vast， and that is meant in the best way possible。 Scott Howard-Cooper did an excellent job of framing the story at the beginning of Abdul Jabbar’s college career through the end of Bill Walton’s。 One thing I really enjoyed was how he went into details about what was really going on in that time period including the civil unrest and how it affected all three of the main characters differently。 Wooden being on the conservative side， Abdul Jabbar being more on the reserved side until he found his voice， and Walton being extremely outspoken about issues。 This book did a very nice job of providing intricate details that built around and strengthened the storytelling。 This book was provided to me as an advance copy in exchange for my honest and fair opinion but I would highly recommend to sports fan in general， regardless of age 。。。more
MARK OLSON
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