Aims to make the reader feel the lure of the boxing ring.

Michael Isenberg casts aside the traditional textbook approach and presents the study of history as a series of puzzles to ponder, with neither right nor wrong answers. Thinking about history, from this point of view, becomes an exciting intellectual adventure that has little to do with rote memorization. This stimulating, open-ended approach focuses not on quick answers but on searching questions, the building of a relationship between an individual and the past.
Isenberg offers a compelling invitation to "greet the subject and call it fun" by delving into different cultures and by...