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

Marshall Jon Fisher

Mar 2023 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Joe Barrett

About this audiobook

The greatest tennis match ever played pitted the dominant Don Budge against the seductively handsome Baron Gottfried von Cramm. This deciding 1937 Davis Cup match, played on the hallowed grounds of Wimbledon, was a battle of titans: the world's number one tennis player against the number two; America against Germany; democracy against fascism. For five superhuman sets, the duo's brilliant shotmaking kept the Centre Court crowd-and the world-spellbound. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression and the brink of World War II, one man played for the pride of his country while the other played for his life. Budge, the humble hard-working American, vied to keep the Davis Cup out of the hands of the Nazi regime. On the other side of the net, the immensely popular von Cramm fought Budge point for point knowing that a loss might precipitate his descent into the living hell being constructed behind barbed wire back home. Set at a time when sports and politics were inextricably linked, A Terrible Splendor gives listeners a courtside seat on that fateful day, moving gracefully between the tennis match for the ages and the dramatic events leading into global war. A book like no other in its weaving of social significance and athletic spectacle, this soul-stirring account is ultimately a tribute to the strength of the human spirit.

About 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 is the author of a novel, A Backhanded Gift, as well as several other nonfiction books, including the award-winning A Terrible Splendor.

Joe Barrett has been a working stage, screen, and recording booth actor since 1974 and an award-winning and eight-time Audie Award-nominated audiobook narrator since 1999. He also practiced law for five years-but don't hold that against him. Joe is married to actress Andrea Wright, and together they have four children.